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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “event logs”

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 “event logs”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Activity Logs, User Activity Tracking, Multisite Activity Log from Logtivity 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 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 5210 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #1 2 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too high 9 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #12 ↑3 3 too low 10 Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Sales 500+ · 4.4★ (136) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5210) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 WP Event Aggregator: Import Eventbrite events, Meetup events, social events and any iCal Events into Event Calendar 1K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #14 15 Sugar Calendar – Events Calendar, Event Tickets, and Events Management Platform 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 too low 17 Event Monster – Event Manager, Event Booking, Event Ticket & Registration 600+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Event Tickets Manager for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 301 Redirects & 404 Error Log 30K+ · 4.6★ (28) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Activity Logs, User Activity Tracking, Multisite Activity Log from Logtivity 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↑1 12 too high 22 Event SEO: Event Schema / Structured Data: Google Rich Snippet Schema for Event 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓3 7 too high 23 UTM Event Tracker and Analytics, UTM Grabber 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Show Eventbrite Events – Event Feed for Eventbrite 800+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #24

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.