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

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 “dropzone”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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 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

Compress & Upload shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10+ 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

Pie Register – User Registration, Profiles & Content Restriction places #6 on merit, 4.2★ from 222 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 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 ACF Dropzone 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #19 16 too low 4 WP Dropzone 80+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 The Icon Block 40K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #15 10 too low 6 Pie Register – User Registration, Profiles & Content Restriction 1K+ · 4.2★ (222) wp.org #24 18 too low 7 OmniFields – Custom Fields & Options Manager — · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 8 Bulk Images to Posts 1K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Logicoo Form 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 Tumult Hype Animations 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Lead Generation Form – Form Builder, Contact Form, Survey & Inquiry Forms 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 FoxyShop 70+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Snopix — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Advanced Fields For Elementor Forms 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 8 too high 15 HT Contact Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Menu Backup & Restore + Import/Export 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 RS Customer File Uploads for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Compress & Upload 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Heirloom Gallery – Private Media Archive — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Codeholt Bundles for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21 RateMate – Product Reviews for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 Skyflow Forms – Contact Form Builder, Easy, Modern, and Responsive Form Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Editor Blocks by Download Manager 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Frontend File Upload 60+ · 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.