Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “enhanced”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

Enhanced Autoload Manager shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Cyr to Lat Enhanced 80K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #9 ↓3 5 too low 5 M Media Search Enhanced 5K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 ↑1 5 too high 7 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #19 12 too low 8 CM Tooltip Glossary 7K+ · 4.3★ (157) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Categories Metabox Enhanced 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too low 11 Lightbox Images for Divi Enhanced 4K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too low 13 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #22 ↑1 9 too low 14 Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15 Lord of the Files: Enhanced Upload Security 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 Enhanced Plugin Admin 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #13 ↓3 4 too high 18 Enhanced Autoload Manager 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Enhanced Ecommerce Google Analytics for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too high 21 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #23 ↓9 2 too low 22 E Enhanced User Search 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Doppler Easy Multichannel Marketing enhanced with IA 600+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Enhanced Responsive Images 50K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.