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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable 000”

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 “disable 000”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ 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

Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts places #7 on merit, 4.5★ from 221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Input Mask For Elementor Form Fields 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 HUSKY – Products Filter for WooCommerce Professional. MCP is onboard 80K+ · 4.6★ (337) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 eCommerce Product Catalog 7K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Pay for Payment for WooCommerce – Payment Gateway Fees & Discounts 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Form Input Masks For Elementor Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 Zalomení 6K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #9 10 Native PHP Sessions 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 ImgSEO – AI Image Alt Text Generator & Image SEO Tools 400+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Video Background 8K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 Lazy Load for Videos 9K+ · 4.4★ (105) wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14 FundEngine – Donation and Crowdfunding Platform 1K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 LocateAndFilter 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓2 13 too high 17 F FAQ Block For Gutenberg 4K+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 ACF RGBA Color Picker 6K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 InPost PL 10K+ · 3.8★ (12) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 AR Back To Top 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 21 Lightweight Sitemap Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑6 10 too high 22 RSS Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 andW Fixed Footer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Kopo Kopo for WooCommerce 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.