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← Rankings

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

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 “environments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Display Environment Type shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1915 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #1 2 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #2 3 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #5 6 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Change Admin Email 40K+ · 4.8★ (141) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #8 ↑5 2 too high 11 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 پارسی دیت – Parsi Date 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #14 15 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too high 18 Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Display Environment Type 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 Disable Updates for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes 9K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Environment & Debug Bar 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.