wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dwell time”

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 “dwell time”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 1 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

SlicPix Interactivity Studio shows at wp.org #16 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 4 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

Quiz Cat – WordPress Quiz Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #2 3

Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Discussion Board – WordPress Forum Plugin 1K+ · 4.6★ (43) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Was This Helpful? – Article Feedback 20+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #5 6

AI App Onsite 10+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #6 7

Title Bar Switcher 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #8 1 too low 8

Anacoder Calculators – 20+ Responsive Calculators & Embed Suite — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #7 2 too high 10

Turk SEM Search Intent — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #11 1 too low 11

LinkChimp – Auto Internal Link Builder & SEO Optimizer — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #12 1 too low 12

ChatBuster: AI Chat for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #10 2 too high 13

Daily Puzzles for Analong — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #13 14

Reading Tools: Word Count & View Counter with Accessibility Tools — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #14 15

Square Orb — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 16

Mustkit Intent & CRO for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 1 too low 17

AttentionVerify by OMNIYA — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 1 too low 18

AutoEmails by AutoThink — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19

AutoROICalc Event Tracking — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20

SlicPix Interactivity Studio 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 4 too high 21

Wazzuno Visitor Traffic & Funnel Analytics — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 22

PetMatchPro 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓4 1 too low 23

ConvertyBot — AI Sales Assistant for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

Aii.cx – Embeddable AI Tools & Lead Magnets — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #22 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.