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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “draft orders”

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 “draft orders”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Draft Order Control shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 30+ 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

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 259 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #1 2 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too low 3 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 ↓2 8 too low 6 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too low 7 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 Filter Orders by Product for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 Intuitive Custom Post Order 400K+ · 4.4★ (139) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 WC Cancel Order 5K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Controlled Draft Publisher 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↓1 12 too high 17 WebToffee EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 Order Status History for WooCommerce 900+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too low 20 EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓2 11 too high 21 Draft List 40+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 Draft Order Control 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 17 too high 23 Export All Posts, Products, Orders & Users | WP Ultimate Exporter | WordPress CSV Export 6K+ · 3.2★ (16) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 Management App for WooCommerce – Order notifications, Order management, Lead management, Uptime Monitoring 800+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.