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

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 “editable”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

VK Filter Search shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4755 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Cyr-To-Lat 300K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #5 ↓3 6 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too low 10 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Translate and boost SEO – Automatic AI translation – wpLingua 2K+ · 4.9★ (33) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #11 ↑5 5 too high 17 Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Bookit — Booking & Appointment Calendar 4K+ · 3.8★ (24) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too high 20 Zalomení 6K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Sales Report for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 VK Filter Search 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too high 23 Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (32) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓1 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.