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

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 “dirty”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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.

E

Ranked above its merit

Enable Block Editor for WC Products shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its — 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

FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 96 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Speed Booster Pack ⚡ PageSpeed Optimization Suite 8K+ · 4.3★ (186) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681) wp.org #10 8 too low 3 Open Source Event Calendar 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #16 12 too low 5 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #21 16 too low 6 SVG Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #24 17 too low 8 Arconix FAQ 6K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #22 14 too low 9 PopupAlly 2K+ · 4.1★ (76) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Cost of Goods: Product Cost & Profit Calculator for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Block Enhancements – Extended styling for the Block Editor 800+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Extended Post Status 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Make Post Dirty — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 12 too high 16 Ecomail 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 L Lockme calendars integration 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 E Enable Block Editor for WC Products — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑2 14 too high 20 Museder RestoreOne 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 13 too high 21 Lwakit Carbon Footprint Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Snoodlr AI Assistant for WordPress and WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Revi.io – Customer and Product Reviews 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 24 Easy Slider 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 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.