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← Rankings

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

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 “educational”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

LearnPress – Course Wishlist shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 449 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #2 3 Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #5 6 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Responsive Team Members Showcase, Team Grid, Team Slider, and Staff List – Smart Team (formerly WP Team) 5K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #18 ↓4 8 too low 11 Team – Team Members Showcase Plugin 10K+ · 4.5★ (67) wp.org #12 ↑5 1 too low 12 Visualizer – Tables & Charts Manager with Built-in AI Generator 20K+ · 4.4★ (225) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Cost Calculator Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (393) wp.org #20 ↑4 7 too low 14 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 DK PDF – WordPress PDF Generator 3K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Linguator – AI Auto Translate & Create Multilingual Sites 3K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 BlockStrap Page Builder – Bootstrap Blocks 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #6 ↑2 12 too high 19 Parsigate 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 too high 20 SmartDoc to Post Importer 300+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 StreamCast – bring live radio to your site with a sleek player 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 LearnPress – Course Wishlist 10K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 16 too high 24 Tablentor – Smart Table Builder for Elementor 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.