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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “div replace”

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 “div replace”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

MakeITeasy Back To Top shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes places #10 on merit, 4.2★ from 139 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #4 ↓3 1 too low 4 One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Easy Search Replace – Find & Replace Text/HTML/URLs, Remove Footer Credit 700+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #1 ↑1 4 too high 6 Democracy Poll 6K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Lightweight Accordion 10K+ · 5.0★ (60) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 ShortPixel Adaptive Images – WebP, AVIF, CDN, Image Optimization 10K+ · 4.8★ (145) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 HTML Tag and Class Replace 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 ↑1 7 too high 10 LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Bricks Navigator 8K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #12 13 Load More Anything 5K+ · 4.5★ (73) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Genesis Connect for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 CoolClock 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 wp-forecast 4K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Data Source for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 MakeITeasy Back To Top 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 UTM Event Tracker and Analytics, UTM Grabber 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Simple Site Map Page 6K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 S Safe Report Comments 100+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 oik 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Mescio for Agents 400+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.