Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “exposure”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

EXIF Remover shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.0★ from 249 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Staatic – Static Site Generator for WordPress 3K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Instant Images – One-click Image Uploads from Unsplash, Openverse, Pixabay, Pexels, and Giphy 100K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #5 ↑3 6 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #10 ↓5 4 too low 7 Delete Expired Transients 4K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too low 9 Disqus Conditional Load 3K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too low 10 Team Members – Multi Language Supported Team Plugin 6K+ · 5.0★ (85) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib 5K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #9 ↑3 2 too high 12 Disable Application Passwords 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 ↑2 5 too high 13 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Melapress File Monitor 5K+ · 4.1★ (32) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 XML Feed for Skroutz & BestPrice for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #16 ↑5 1 too high 18 Site Lockdown Security 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↑3 7 too high 19 EXIF Remover 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑2 11 too high 20 Lockora Security Audit 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 21 Flipa PDF Flipbook – PDF Viewer and Page Flip Book 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 22 3D viewer by Visody 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Custonis – Security Exposure Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 Service Box Slider 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 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.