wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “error handler”

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 “error handler”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

Plug Error Handler shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its — 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

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 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 signals wp.org

Sentry for WordPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too low 4

Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #3 1 too high 5

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #10 4 too low 7

Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #12 ↑3 5 too low 8

All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #13 ↑4 5 too low 9

Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #24 14 too low 11

WPS Bidouille 9K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #20 ↑1 9 too low 12

Disable Fatal Error Handler 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #2 11 too high 14

Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #23 9 too low 15

SpeakOut! Email Petitions 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #22 ↑2 7 too low 16

BugSnag Error Monitoring plugin 2K+ · 3.7★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17

Debug 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too high 18

Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19

Plug Error Handler — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #5 14 too high 20

Error Sniffing Pug – Tells you what broke 100+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑1 12 too high 21

Hagakure – Yet Another Error Reporter 30+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too high 22

FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too high 23

MCP Adapter 60K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑3 8 too high 24

FatalGuard – PHP Error Log Viewer, Debug Log & Fatal Error Alerts 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 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.