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

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 “employment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Code and Core Repeater Fields for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #16 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 60+ 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 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2131) wp.org #1 2 Say What? 40K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #2 3 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #3 4 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 MPG – Multiple Page Generator, Bulk Landing Pages & Programmatic SEO 2K+ · 3.9★ (27) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Timeline – Tell Your Story Through Events and Milestones 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 BlockStrap Page Builder – Bootstrap Blocks 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 AI Job Listing – Job Board Plugin To Manage Hiring 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 UltimaTour Contact Forms 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Give – Double the Donation 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Schema Blocks 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Dynamic Content for WP Job Manager & Elementor 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 Heyrecruit 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 R Researcher Profiles for ORCID 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 E Employed Jobs Importer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Divine Agreement System — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Connectoor Jobs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Trionix Recruitment Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Job Board by ejobsitesoftware 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Jobicy Remote Jobs Feed — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 MerchantKits Attendance Manager — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Code and Core Repeater Fields for Contact Form 7 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Job board: Career Page Job Listing — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.