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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “extra data”

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 “extra data”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Solace Extra shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ 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

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 #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Ocean Extra 400K+ · 3.3★ (67) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Extra Product Options For WooCommerce | Custom Product Addons and Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #6 7 Profile Extra Fields by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.6★ (15) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Extra Product Sorting Options for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 YayExtra – WooCommerce Extra Product Options 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #17 18 Posts Table with Search & Sort 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Data Source for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Extra Product Options for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 Block Data Attribute 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 LandTech Extras for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 F Fable Extra 4K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Solace Extra 10K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 12 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.