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

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

Weight Products for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Sales places #8 on merit, 4.4★ from 136 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 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #1 2 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #2 3 Advanced Local Pickup for WooCommerce – Click & Collect, In-Store Pickup 3K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 Shipping Zones by Drawing for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.1★ (24) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Listdom: AI-powered Business Directory with Classifieds Ads Listings 1K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Free Backlinks & Guest Post Exchange – Consolety 40+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Sales 500+ · 4.4★ (136) wp.org #17 ↓1 9 too low 9 Turbo Addons Elementor 3K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #6 ↓2 3 too high 10 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce – OTP Verification, Block Fake Signups 2K+ · 4.2★ (20) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Selective Image Guard | A deterrent for unauthorized downloads and scraping 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Honeypot Guard – Silent Anti-Spam 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 CHEQ Essentials 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 FARM QR Code Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Postalion – Newsletter, Email Marketing & Automation 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 ClickFraudFree 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 FarmTours Bookings – Farm Tour Booking Calendar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 TrafficGuard PPC Fraud Prevention 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 SeekMake – Instant 3D Printing Quote Plugin on your Website 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓9 1 too low 20 Fraud Blocker — Click Fraud Protection 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 NoCaptcha Spam Filter for Contact Form 7 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 BoxCart – Local Pickup & Click and Collect Ordering 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 SpamKill – No-CAPTCHA, No-Signup Anti-Spam & Spam Protection for Comments & Reviews for WooCommerce 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Weight Products for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 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.