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

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 “dismiss”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Sa11y, the accessibility quality assurance assistant | Accessibility Checker shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #2 3 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #3 4 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #4 5 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Announcement & Notification Banner – Bulletin 2K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Enable Mastodon Apps 500+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 RightBlogger – AI SEO Agent & Autoblogging 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Sticky Banner 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Countdown Timer Block – build urgency for events and launches 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Sa11y, the accessibility quality assurance assistant | Accessibility Checker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 The Viking Auto Dismiss 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Dead Link Checker – SEO and 404 error Fix 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Simple Exit Notifier 100+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Alert Box Block – Grab Attention with Eye-Catching Notices 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.