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

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

BugSnag Error Monitoring plugin shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Nested Pages places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 126 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #5 ↑3 2 too low 4 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Force Login 30K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) wp.org #6 ↑11 7 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #9 ↓4 2 too low 8 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #8 ↓4 9 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too low 11 Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #12 ↑4 1 too low 12 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #18 ↓8 6 too low 13 WP Debugging 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Dynamic Widgets 10K+ · 4.7★ (109) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too low 16 Admin Columns for ACF Fields 8K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #16 ↓3 17 BugSnag Error Monitoring plugin 2K+ · 3.7★ (9) wp.org #7 ↓1 10 too high 18 Swift Performance Lite 6K+ · 3.6★ (125) wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19 RSFirewall! 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓3 8 too high 20 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for Contact Form 7 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓3 7 too high 22 External files in Media Library 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for WPForms 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too high 24 Solid Performance – Your No-Code Caching, Performance, & Page Speed Solution 4K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.