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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “factory reset”

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 “factory reset”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 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

WP Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache, Minify & Core Web Vitals shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #18 ↓1 16 too low 3 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #22 ↓1 19 too low 4 Database Reset Pro – Clean & Reset WordPress Database 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 6 Factory Reset 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #23 ↓1 16 too low 8 Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce – WP Sheet Editor 10K+ · 4.9★ (228) wp.org #24 ↓1 16 too low 9 Unnotifier — disable admin notices individually 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 ShareToSocial – Social Media Share Buttons & Sharing Icons 100+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Who Changed It? – Activity Log & Audit Trail 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Resetify – Advanced Reset & Database Cleaner 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓2 14 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15 Cache control by Cacholong 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Hawsome Site Reset — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Sitevorx — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 ResetForge for Multisite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19 Blockrush Coupon Code Dispenser — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 SparkPlus 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Mark AI 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 WP Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache, Minify & Core Web Vitals 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 Softminal Cache — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 HarborCache – Object Cache with Redis — · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.