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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “flash player”

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 “flash player”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

System Requirements Check shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades places #4 on merit, 4.6★ from 572 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 Easy Video Player 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #1 2 Compact WP Audio Player 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #2 3 ShopEngine – All-in-One Elementor WooCommerce Builder with eCommerce Templates & Woo Widgets 100K+ · 4.6★ (212) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 PowerPress Podcasting plugin by Blubrry 20K+ · 4.6★ (231) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #13 ↑2 7 too low 7 FV Flowplayer Video Player 10K+ · 4.4★ (90) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Podlove Web Player 4K+ · 3.7★ (14) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin 2K+ · 3.8★ (277) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 WP YouTube Lyte 20K+ · 4.8★ (206) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Playlist Player for YouTube – Fast, Privacy-Friendly Playlists & Channel Feed 1K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 VdoCipher: Secure Video Player and Hosting 2K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Vimeotheque – Vimeo WordPress Plugin & Video Gallery 2K+ · 4.6★ (26) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Dokan Kits 300+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 bSlider – Build Sliders That Bring Your Content to Life 5K+ · 4.0★ (11) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 S Smartideo 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 23 System Requirements Check 40+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 11 too high 24 Interactive Polish Map 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 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.