Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “federation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

Event Bridge for ActivityPub shows at wp.org #8 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 70+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #1 2 European VAT Compliance Assistant for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 WebFinger 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Allpay Payment Gateway 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 5 Scry Search: Meilisearch for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 NodeInfo(2) 900+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Chess Podium — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 KaliCart Bridge – Agentic Commerce Catalog, ChatGPT Product Feed & MCP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 FediBoost 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 SPOSCOR Core 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 English Chess Data 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Badhub Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 Ixard Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14 A Axismundi Actors — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Event Bridge for ActivityPub 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 A Axismundi Object Projections — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 A Axismundi Media Library — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 G Gestion Location d'Arc — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 D DWZ-Vereinsliste — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 A Axismundi Emoji — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too low 21 NV oOS Content Graph 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 SSO & SAML Login — Azure AD / Entra ID — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 ChessPairings — Tournament Showcase — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 SAML IDP – Login with WordPress Users via SAML SSO — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑2 4 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.