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← Rankings

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

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 “directories”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 4 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

Next Active Directory Integration shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #1 2 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 HivePress – Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (221) wp.org #8 ↑6 9 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #13 ↑6 2 too low 12 UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #16 ↑4 17 Name Directory 2K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (96) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #20 21 WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 WP Directory Kit 2K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Web Directory plugin Free – AI powered 300+ · 4.1★ (20) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 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.