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

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 “failsafe”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Debug Bar – Enable WP_DEBUG from admin dashboard shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.8★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Blocksy Companion places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 93 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 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #1 2 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #2 3 A authLdap 4K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #3 4 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #20 16 too low 5 Blocksy Companion 300K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #23 18 too low 6 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Trash Fail Safe 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 NETSENSAI Shield 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↑1 14 too low 9 FailSafe – Fatal Error Recovery — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 KineticHub Page Loader – Preloader & Branded Loading Screen 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Waito Animated Preloader and Loading Screen 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 WP Safe Mode 2K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Juliet Just Masks 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14 Vectralix AI Chat – Failsafe AI Assistant & Live Chat Console — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15 Authyo OTP for Elementor Form 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Todot Photolab for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Imaxio SEO Image Renamer and Alt Text — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 A AddressZen — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 WPNest Price History for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Connect Contact Form 7 to Constant Contact V3 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 Authyo OTP for Met Form — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 N Never Expire Submissions for Gravity Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Debug Bar – Enable WP_DEBUG from admin dashboard 100+ · 1.8★ (5) wp.org #12 11 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.