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← Rankings

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

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 “emoticon”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 6 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

Emoji Toolbar shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Editor Tools places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 354 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Keep Emoticons as Text 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Wise Chat 4K+ · 4.4★ (105) wp.org #3 4 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too low 5 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Youzify – BuddyPress Community, User Profile, Social Network & Membership Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 wp-Monalisa 600+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Emoji Settings 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 Vuukle – Comments, Reactions, Quizzes, Share Bar & Ad Revenue 200+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 Free Live Chat Support 500+ · 4.0★ (26) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Advanced Classic Editor 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Kama WP Smiles 300+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Intagrate Lite 4K+ · 4.1★ (27) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Rating Widget: Post Rating, 5 Star Rating, Reviews, Thumbs Up & Down, Reaction 400+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 Paid Videochat Turnkey Site – HTML5 PPV Live Webcams 10+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 Remove WordPress Overhead 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 Emoji Toolbar 2K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 2Way VideoCalls and Random Chat – HTML5 Webcam Videochat 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Agency Toolkit 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Compressed Emoji 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Bloat Buster – A Simple Plugin To Kill Off Bloat 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Antarnisti Smiley for Kaskus — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 Website Toolbox Chat Room 10+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.