wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “extendable admin”

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 “extendable admin”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Order Notifications in Messaging Apps for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Contextual Related Posts places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 201 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS 8K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2

UiPress lite | Effortless custom dashboards, admin themes and pages 6K+ · 4.1★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4

WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5

SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager 10K+ · 4.7★ (369) wp.org #5 6

Blocksy Companion 300K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7

The GDPR Framework By Data443 10K+ · 4.8★ (65) wp.org #7 ↓1 8

Property Hive 3K+ · 4.9★ (96) wp.org #8 ↓1 9

Appointment Booking Plugin – LatePoint | Calendar & Scheduling for WordPress 100K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10

FOX – Currency Switcher Professional for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.4★ (250) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11

WPCasa – Real Estate for WordPress 1K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Jetpack CRM – Clients, Leads, Invoices, Billing, Email Marketing, & Automation 30K+ · 4.3★ (152) wp.org #17 4 too low 14

Tracking and Consent Manager – WP Full Picture 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #16 2 too low 15

Digital License Manager 800+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16

QA Assistants – Driven by data 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #11 5 too high 17

Mega Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Multi-Step & Conditional Logic 200+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18

Admin Safety Guard — Login Security, Limit Logins, 2FA & Brute Force Protection 20+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #10 8 too high 19

TK Google Fonts 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20

Gravity Forms: GDPR Framework Add-On 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #18 2 too high 21

Order Notifications in Messaging Apps for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22

YM Fast SEO 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

Panelra – Custom Admin Dashboard Builder 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

WZ Followed Posts – Display what visitors are reading 300+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #19 5 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.