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

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 “edge”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Edge Images 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 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 1596 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 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (642) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Atomic Edge Security – Firewall, Malware Scan and Login Security 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 Gutenberg 400K+ · 2.1★ (3888) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #24 ↓14 14 too low 11 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Majestic Support – The Leading-Edge Help Desk & Customer Support Plugin 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓1 7 too high 13 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 J jQuery Updater 20K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 View Transitions 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #20 ↑4 4 too low 17 Pdf Embed 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 ↑2 7 too high 18 Edge Images 10+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓3 10 too high 19 PDF Viewer Block for Gutenberg 10K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 MetaSlider Gallery – Image Gallery, Lightbox Galleries, Video Galleries 10K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓7 3 too low 21 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Formilla Edge Targeted Messaging Platform for Sales and Marketing 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓6 8 too high 23 RunCache – Full-Page, Object, and Edge Caching 4K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 10 too high 24 TradeJournal Edge 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 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.