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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “failed actions”

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 “failed actions”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Spark GF Failed Submissions shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Easy Actions Scheduler Cleaner 900+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5210) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (398) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 Limit Login Attempts Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA, Firewall & Login Security 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 WS Action Scheduler Cleaner 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Cleanup Action Scheduler 1K+ · 3.2★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 Spark GF Failed Submissions 70+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 15 too high 23 ZS Action Scheduler Optimizer 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 14 too high 24 Failed Actions Monitor for Action Scheduler 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 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.