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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “download”

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

Media Library File Download shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 288 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #1 2 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #2 3 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Download Attachments 8K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #6 7 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #7 8 SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (288) wp.org #14 ↑6 6 too low 9 Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 Free Downloads WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (85) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Download After Email – Subscribe & Download Form Plugin 7K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Easy Media Download 8K+ · 4.0★ (28) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #24 ↓2 10 too low 15 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Shared Files – File Upload & Download Manager 4K+ · 4.4★ (34) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too high 18 WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Quick Download Button 1K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Media Library File Download 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑3 8 too high 21 Download List Block with Icons 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Bulk Download for Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Download Media File 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 Editor Blocks by Download Manager 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.