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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “empty cart”

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 “empty cart”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Modal Fly Cart & AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 149 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too low 3 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Sliding Cart for WooCommerce by FunnelKit – Skip Cart & Reach WooCommerce Checkout Faster 30K+ · 5.0★ (111) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WPC Fly Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (61) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Ajax Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.4★ (39) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #10 ↑6 1 too high 12 Cart Notices for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Sunshine Photo Cart – Client Photo Gallery & Photo Proofing for Photographers 1K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 Minimum Purchase Amount For Woo Cart – For WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too high 15 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #15 ↓4 16 Modal Fly Cart & AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too high 17 Cart Lift – Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce and EDD 900+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓3 18 Mini Ajax Cart for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Fast Cart – Ultralight Ajax Side Cart for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Change Add to Cart Button Text for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 RaCar Clear Cart for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Floating Cart Product For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 ShapedCart – WooCommerce Side Cart, Mini Cart & Floating Cart 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Remove Cart Products 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.