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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “donate button”

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 “donate button”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Ko-fi Button shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 5K+ 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 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 wp.org
1 WhyDonate – FREE Donate button – Crowdfunding – Fundraising 800+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #2 ↑4 1 too low 2 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #5 ↓2 3 too low 3 Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 Like Button Rating ♥ LikeBtn 3K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Zeffy Donate Button 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Nobs • Share Buttons 3K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #20 ↑1 13 too low 8 Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Payment Button for PayPal 4K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Donorbox – Free Recurring Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 8K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Art WooCommerce Order One Click 4K+ · 5.0★ (36) wp.org #22 ↓2 10 too low 13 FundEngine – Donation and Crowdfunding Platform 1K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 Razorpay Payment Button Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Buy Me a Coffee – Button and Widget Plugin 6K+ · 3.8★ (18) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Ko-fi Button 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 13 too high 17 Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #23 ↓4 6 too low 18 Donate by BestWebSoft – Donations Acception Extention for WordPress 90+ · 3.7★ (7) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Donate Me 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Sticky Copy Button for Code Blocks 50+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 FundPress – WordPress Donation Plugin 300+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 Read More Button – Expand Content Without Refresh 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Very Simple PayPal Donation Form 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 SureDonation – Donation Forms, Fundraising Campaigns & Donor Management 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 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.