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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dictionary”

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 “dictionary”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

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 it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

One Accessibility – WordPress Accessibility Plugin & ADA Compliance Widget shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 300+ 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.

Buried gem

Echo Knowledge Base – Documentation, FAQs, Chat & Smart Search places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 124 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Glossary 2K+ · 4.7★ (84) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Personal Dictionary – Vocabulary Games, Memory Games 70+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 CM Tooltip Glossary 7K+ · 4.3★ (157) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #9 ↑2 5 too low 5 Name Directory 2K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Login IP & Country Restriction 8K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #6 7 Translate and boost SEO – Automatic AI translation – wpLingua 2K+ · 4.9★ (33) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 WProofreader spell & grammar check plugin for WordPress 4K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Echo Knowledge Base – Documentation, FAQs, Chat & Smart Search 10K+ · 4.9★ (124) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Heroic Glossary – Block for building Glossaries, Dictionaries and more 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too low 12 Chartify – WordPress Chart Plugin 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #23 ↓3 11 too low 13 AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 CM Search And Replace – Optimize content edits with a powerful search and replace tool 2K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Admin login URL Change 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Accessibility by AllAccessible 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #22 ↑2 6 too low 17 CM E-Mail Blacklist – Simple email filtering for safer registration 800+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too low 18 CM Pop-Up – Create engaging popups to capture attention and boost interaction 8K+ · 3.4★ (13) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Glossary Tooltip – Highlight Terms & Show Tooltips 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography 100+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 One Accessibility – WordPress Accessibility Plugin & ADA Compliance Widget 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 10 too high 23 auto-post.io 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 Description List Block 400+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #20 4 too high

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.