wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “export plugin details”

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 “export plugin details”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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 All Export – Order Export for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #15 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce 100K+ · 5.0★ (350) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

WP All Export – Drag & Drop Export to Any Custom CSV, XML & Excel 100K+ · 4.5★ (415) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Export and Import Users and Customers 50K+ · 4.8★ (442) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 ↑2 4

Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #5 ↑7 1 too low 5

Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.7★ (337) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too high 6

Product Import Export for WooCommerce – CSV Product Importer & Exporter 80K+ · 4.6★ (413) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↓2 7

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #8 ↓1 9

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #9 ↑4 10

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #19 ↓3 9 too low 11

Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12

Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 too low 13

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #11 2 too high 14

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15

Comments Import & Export 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too high 16

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #24 ↓4 8 too low 17

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 4 too high 18

Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19

Export Products, Orders & Customers for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #14 5 too high 20 E Export Categories 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #16 4 too high 21

WP All Export – Order Export for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.9★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too high 22

Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓4 23

Export Customers Data 500+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24

Export/Import Media – CSV Media Library Import & Export 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.