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

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 “faceted search”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

MemberKits – Ultimate Member for Elementor shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 400+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #1 2 Dynific Addons for Elementor (formerly Anywhere Elementor) 70K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 DOOFINDER Search and Discovery for WP & WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (127) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 Tainacan 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Unlimited Elements For Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (522) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Datafeedr WooCommerce Importer 5K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Yuto – Meilisearch Integrator 60+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 CelerSearch – AI-Powered Instant Search with Meilisearch 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 WP Engine AI Toolkit 10+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #15 16 MemberKits – Ultimate Member for Elementor 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Sieve – Faceted Filter for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 Searchcraft — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 F Faceted Search for Ultimate Member — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 SS Dynamic Filter for Oxygen 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 Opensolr Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 FileDeck – Document Library & Download Manager 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 NitroSearch for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 Unlimited Elements Blocks Library 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.