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

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 “endless”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Conditional Logic Emails, Fields, Redirect for Elementor Forms shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 365 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #1 2 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #8 ↑3 3 too low 6 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #11 ↑6 4 too low 8 CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) wp.org #15 ↑4 6 too low 10 Endless Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 A Attachment Pages Redirect 10K+ · 4.9★ (47) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Attribute Stock for WooCommerce – Shared Stock & Variable Quantities (Lite Version) 2K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 SureFeedback Client Site 5K+ · 4.0★ (39) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 I Insert Pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 picu – Online Photo Proofing Gallery 2K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #21 ↓3 5 too low 17 Media Library Organizer – Folders, File Manager & Media Categories 20K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Product Sort and Display for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.1★ (45) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Link in Bio Creator – Social 2K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Product Tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too high 21 Conditional Logic Emails, Fields, Redirect for Elementor Forms 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #9 ↓2 12 too high 22 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 YITH WooCommerce Product Slider Carousel 4K+ · 3.2★ (20) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.