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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dependent variations”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “dependent variations”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Link Invoice Payment for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Product Options for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #1 2 PVT – Product Variation Table for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (49) wp.org #2 3 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #3 ↑6 1 too high 5 Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 ShopEngine – All-in-One Elementor WooCommerce Builder with eCommerce Templates & Woo Widgets 100K+ · 4.6★ (212) wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too low 7 Product page shipping calculator for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Product Sync for WooCommerce – Supplier API Import, Dropshipping & Inventory Sync 400+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #5 ↓2 3 too high 9 Order Limit for WooCommerce (Free Version) 800+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 Stock Dependencies for WooCommerce 100+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 WooCommerce Product Dependencies 3K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Graphina – Charts and Graphs For Elementor 9K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 Conditional Add to Cart for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓2 14 HT Contact Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 S Sendbox-Shipping 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Dokan Vendor Dashboard 200+ · 2.2★ (15) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 Products and Variations Visibility PRO For WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 CodingBunny Database Cleaner 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Chained Selects for Elementor Forms 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Link Invoice Payment for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Chained Selects for Chained Selects for Contact Form 7 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Chained Selects for WPForms 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 WDOnline Print All for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Cart Rebound – Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.