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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “find size”

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 “find size”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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

Max Upload File Size Manager shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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 EasyMedia – Increase Media Upload File Size | Role-Based Upload Limit | Increase Execution Time 70K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size 100K+ · 4.9★ (403) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Media Library File Size 6K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Product Size Charts Plugin for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too high 16 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too low 17 WP Upload Size 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓1 12 too high 18 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 String locator 100K+ · 4.6★ (125) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Max Upload File Size Manager 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More 20K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 SEO'n'AI – Image Locator & Find Unused Images 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 Product Size Charts Plugin for WooCommerce, Size Table, Size Chart Popup – WPBean 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 5 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.