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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “file extention”

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 “file extention”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

M

Ranked above its merit

Mythic Beasts WordPress Management shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Responsive Lightbox & Gallery places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 2003 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 A Add MIME Types 50K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #1 2 Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 100K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Media Library Folders 10K+ · 4.3★ (465) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (783) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 Mime Types Plus 10K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Premmerce 400+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 Purge Varnish Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Wallet System for WooCommerce – Digital Wallet, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Instant Cashback, Referral program, Partial & Subscription Payments 1K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 WP Limit Login Attempts 10K+ · 4.6★ (300) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 Pay With MetaMask For WooCommerce – Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway 400+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Majestic Support – The Leading-Edge Help Desk & Customer Support Plugin 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑1 6 too high 15 Donate by BestWebSoft – Donations Acception Extention for WordPress 90+ · 3.7★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 Projectopia – Project Management Tool 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 ArvanCloud Object Storage 90+ · 3.3★ (14) wp.org #17 18 Booster Extension 6K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 M Mythic Beasts WordPress Management 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 Supertext Translation and Proofreading 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 Nemesis All-in-One | Newspaper Builder Elementor Extention 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Teamgate CRM Forms for WordPress 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 Hide Price For WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Elements Buddy Elementor Addons 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.