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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “face recognition”

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

Capsquery Facial Authentication shows at wp.org #3 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 538 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #1 2 miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator) 10K+ · 4.5★ (385) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Secure Passkeys 2K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #4 5 CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 ProctoPress : Quiz/Exam Proctoring For Learning Management System(LMS) 100+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #6 7 Project Manager – AI Powered Project Management, Task Management, Kanban Board & Time Tracker 5K+ · 3.8★ (187) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Capsquery Facial Authentication 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Identity Verification for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 RC Site Manager & Optimization 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Molongui Post Contributors: Multi-Role Contributor Attribution 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 JMPG Face Match for Photographers — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 WPChef Employee Attendance Tracker 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑2 5 too high 15 Academy Certificates – Certificate Builder for Academy LMS 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Facial Recognition Authentication — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 K Keyless Login — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 iDenfy for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 Speechable 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 STRABL – A checkout solution 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Captionwright – AI Video Captions, Subtitles & Transcripts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 FiD Facial Recognition Admin Login — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Passwordless X1280 — · 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.