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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “first screen”

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 “first screen”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Full Screen Galleries shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #4 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Force First and Last Name as Display Name 2K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #1 2 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Featured Products First for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 First Order Discount Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 First payment date for WooCommerce Subscriptions 400+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Screen Reader Accessibility – WCAG, Text-to-Speech & AI Accessibility Fixes 600+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #12 13 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Full Screen Galleries 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 FV Clone Screen Options 1K+ · 4.6★ (11) 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.