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

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 “electricity”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

Solar Energy Simulator shows at wp.org #12 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 List Petfinder Pets 400+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓2 13 too low 5 ImmoWP Diagnostic DPE GES 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Fast Woo Order Lookup 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 too low 7 Index WP Users For Speed 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too low 8 Website Carbon Calculator 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WattPencil Appliance Running Cost — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 LumiVoltech Solar Lead Funnel — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 SaveElectro — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Veloxa Solar Widget – Solar Production Display — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑13 3 too high 13 Noticewatch Contract Register — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Smitacs POS Invoice — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too high 15 Echelon Widgets for SiteOrigin 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 Hospedajes España – HOSTPN — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 Website Carbon 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too high 18 Solar Energy Simulator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too high 19 Coin Miner – Coin Hive, and CoinImp monero miner 10+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 LinkTiller: AI Internal Linking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Hayyat Apps Solar Lead Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 GreenTrace Carbon Rating Badge and Reports — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 ThemeREX Auto Dealer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 A.N.R.GHG Publishing Toolkit 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.