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

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 plugin quick”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 7 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

Quick Buy Now Button for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 397 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #1 2 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3 Quick Featured Images 50K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #12 ↓5 4 too low 9 Quick Adsense 20K+ · 3.9★ (74) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #15 ↑9 5 too low 11 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #19 ↑3 8 too low 12 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #8 ↑1 6 too high 15 YITH WooCommerce Quick View 80K+ · 3.8★ (27) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 Quick Event Manager 1K+ · 4.9★ (67) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Quick Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 50K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 Quick and Easy Testimonials 3K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓4 3 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.