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

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

A

Ranked above its merit

Alphabetical Pagination shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #1 2 WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #2 3 HUSKY – Products Filter for WooCommerce Professional. MCP is onboard 80K+ · 4.6★ (337) wp.org #3 4 TableOn – WordPress Posts Table Filterable 200+ · 4.6★ (15) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Store file uploads for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 B BuddyPress Extended Friendship Request 200+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #19 13 too low 7 EU VAT Guard for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Spexo Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets, Mega Menu, Popup Builder, Template Kits and Starter Templates for Elementor 6K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 No unsafe-inline 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too low 10 FormFlow Gravity Forms Ext for GoHighLevel – Send Form Leads to GHL — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑3 11 Alma – Pay in installments or later for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 Structure Viewer – AI Context Builder, Code Search & MCP Tools 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 GovernDocs Document Management – Agenda, Minutes, Meetings, Reports & more 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too high 15 Users Login Monitor 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 FormFlow Ext For WPForms and GoHighLevel – Send Form Leads to GHL — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓4 17 FormFlow Ext for Contact Form 7 and GoHighLevel – Send Form Leads to GHL — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 Add .html Extension to Pages 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Hack-Info 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 inPIPE by Seresa — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 NEWTIV Migrate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 New Users Monitor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓4 2 too low 23 A Alphabetical Pagination 30+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Easy Custom Event Tickets 20+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.