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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “events manager”

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 “events manager”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

WP Events Manager shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 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 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #1 2 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #2 3 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #3 4 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #14 ↑3 3 too low 12 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Events Widgets For Elementor And The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.5★ (108) wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too high 16 Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Quick Event Manager 1K+ · 4.9★ (67) wp.org #17 ↑2 18 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #23 ↓5 5 too low 19 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #19 ↑4 20 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #22 ↓7 2 too low 21 WP Events Manager 30K+ · 2.7★ (13) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Events Manager – Zoom Integration 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23 E Events Manager and WPML Compatibility 1K+ · 2.8★ (13) wp.org #18 ↓4 5 too high 24 WP Events Manager WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓3 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.