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← Rankings

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

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 “english”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Xllentech English Islamic Calendar shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smart Slider 3 places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1125 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #2 3 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #3 4 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #12 ↑6 6 too low 7 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #10 ↑4 3 too low 8 WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 SSL Insecure Content Fixer 100K+ · 4.8★ (221) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11 Simple Admin Language Change 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 WP Sitemap Page 200K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 Ailo – AI Slug Translator 1K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too high 18 Performant Translations 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19 Log Emails 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #19 ↓3 20 Booking Package 10K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Xllentech English Islamic Calendar 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 Nepali Date Converter 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑2 10 too high 24 SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #14 ↓3 10 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.