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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “favourite posts”

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 “favourite posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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.

H

Ranked above its merit

Hide Header on Posts for Landing Pages shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 228 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #1 2 Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #2 3 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #3 4 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #4 5 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #5 6 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #6 7 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 3K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar 30K+ · 4.8★ (228) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 SmartyParcel – DHL Express, GLS, InPost & Nova Post for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (56) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Thrive Automator 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 NinjaScanner – Virus & Malware scan 40K+ · 4.0★ (36) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 WP Post Series 600+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 D Display custom fields in the frontend – Post and User Profile Fields 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Lead Form Data Collection to CRM 400+ · 4.0★ (46) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Enable Mastodon Apps 500+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Post Engagement – Like Dislike, Share, Views, Star Rating, Favorites & Copy Posts 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Post Redirection – 301, 404 Redirects 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 H Hide Header on Posts for Landing Pages 200+ · 2.7★ (3) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Header Footer Custom Html 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.