wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “double click”

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 “double click”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Double Youpï Refined Admin Dashboard – Admin Theme with Dark Mode & Media Folders shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #1 2

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #6 3 too low 4

One Click Demo Import 1M+ · 4.3★ (79) host-installed base wp.org #2 2 too high 5

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 #9 ↓3 4 too low 6

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7

All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements 40K+ · 4.9★ (542) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too low 8

Double Opt-In for Contact Form 7 – Secure, GDPR-Compliant Email Verification 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #3 5 too high 9

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑6 2 too high 11

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #18 ↓7 7 too low 12

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #13 ↓5 1 too low 13

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #19 6 too low 14

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #17 ↓4 3 too low 15

Quads Ads Manager for Google AdSense 20K+ · 4.9★ (1087) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 6 too low 16

Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too high 17

Advanced Local Pickup for WooCommerce – Click & Collect, In-Store Pickup 3K+ · 4.7★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too high 18

Duplicate Page 3M+ · 4.8★ (466) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19

Double Youpï Refined Admin Dashboard – Admin Theme with Dark Mode & Media Folders 70+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #5 14 too high 20

Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #20 ↓3 21

Print Page Block – make any page printable in one click 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too high 22

Double Youpï Refined Media Library – Media Folders, Collections & WebP 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23

Give – Double the Donation 100+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 24

One Click Order 10+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24

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.