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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “exit warning”

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 “exit warning”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Simple Exit Notifier shows at wp.org #3 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 2215 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #1 2 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #8 ↓2 5 too low 4 Exit Popup 1K+ · 4.1★ (24) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 FireBox – WooCommerce Popup Builder, Exit Intent Popup, Email Optin & Cart Abandonment 6K+ · 4.8★ (76) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #13 ↑5 6 too low 8 AI Popup Builder & Popup Maker by OptiMonk 3K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too low 11 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Safety Exit 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 PopupAlly 2K+ · 4.1★ (76) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 Simple Exit Notifier 100+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #3 15 too high 19 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Breadcrumbs Divi Module 10K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 Instant Popup Builder – Popup Maker for Videos, Forms, Offers, Announcements, Galleries & Exit Intent 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 Leaving Notice Popup For External Links – nofollow, noopener & New Tab 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓3 7 too high 23 YITH WooCommerce Product Slider Carousel 4K+ · 3.2★ (20) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.