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

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

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

RSS Chimp – Featured Images for RSS Feeds shows at wp.org #3 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 400+ 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.

Buried gem

Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels places #6 on merit, 4.6★ from 838 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Podlove Web Player 4K+ · 3.7★ (14) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #5 6 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #24 ↓3 18 too low 7 PowerPress Podcasting plugin by Blubrry 20K+ · 4.6★ (231) wp.org #23 ↓3 16 too low 8 W WP QuickLaTeX 4K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 sqrip.ch 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 Podcast Analytics for OP3 20+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 RSS Feed Pro 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓2 5 too high 12 RSS Chimp – Featured Images for RSS Feeds 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 VisualWP Restrict RSS Feeds 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too high 14 T Ten&Two XSLT Processor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 R RSS Image Widget 60+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓2 7 too high 16 Rssemble Cards for RSS Feeds 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too high 17 Webyapp: RSS News Grid 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 Zhekich Feed Generator for Dzen 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 Emanda – Featured Image in RSS 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 Selfhost Podcasting – Create Podcasts Easily 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 TECHED.TV Ticker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 Brainstorm Cafe Podcast Player 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 DataCaptia – Open Graph plugin for WordPress 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 RSS Fetcher — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.