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

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 “firstname”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.

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.

Ranked above its merit

Users Birthday Email shows at wp.org #9 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress places #3 on merit, 4.6★ from 1170 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #1 2 Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #2 3 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Team Members 20K+ · 4.2★ (53) wp.org #4 5 Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #5 6 Another Mailchimp Widget 4K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Contact List – Online Staff Directory & Address Book 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Simple:Press Forum 300+ · 4.2★ (24) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Guaranteed Reviews Company (Société des Avis Garantis) 900+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 sqrip.ch 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 SCIM User Sync/Provisioning 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 Chatbot Botnation Plugin 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Users Birthday Email 90+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 Formilla Edge Targeted Messaging Platform for Sales and Marketing 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓2 15 SSO JumpCloud – Enterprise SAML & SCIM — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 AbdullahWP Contact Sync for Brevo and Elementor Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 LeadOnForm – Salesforce Integration — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Headless SSO Plugin for WP 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Ezone Pay — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Connectapre – Smart Contact Button — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Form2Wizz – MailWizz integration for Elementor forms 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 DMC Posts to Newsletter Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 D Doitforme CRM Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 C Contact Form 7 CiviCRM integration 200+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 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.