wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “display more”

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 “display more”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Bangla Date Display shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 1597 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 3

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #3 4

Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) not PHP-current wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6

Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too low 7

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #8 9

Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #9 10

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #20 ↓4 10 too low 11

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #17 ↓6 6 too low 12

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13

Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #24 11 too low 14

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too low 15

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #21 6 too low 16

Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17

Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #19 2 too low 18

Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #10 8 too high 19

Load More Anything 5K+ · 4.5★ (73) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20

Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21

Shipping Method Display Style for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too high 22

More Sorting Options for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.3★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23

Product Sort and Display for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.1★ (45) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.