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

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 “flights”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Print.com Print on Demand shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 633 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 E-cab Taxi Booking Manager for Woocommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Finale Lite – Sales Countdown Timer & Discount for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (151) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 App Builder – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Flight 500+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Travel & Tours Meta Search 200+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #17 ↑3 9 too low 9 iFolders – Ultimate Folder Organizer for Media Library, Pages, Posts and Users 300+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑5 4 too low 10 Bukza 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too high 11 WebEquipe PDF Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 12 GutenDraw – Visualize Ideas with Excalidraw 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 6 too high 14 Aviation Company Flight Search & Booking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Certloom – Certificate Verification 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 Champlin Pre-Flight Audit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17 Form Flight Recorder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Multixor – Multisite Sync & Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 BuildsByLuke Order Flight Recorder for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 BuildsByLuke SEO Flight Recorder – Noindex, Meta & Schema Change Alerts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Anrok Tax for WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Seasonal Effects & Notice Bar (formerly Halloween Animations) 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 Deny All Firewall 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Print.com Print on Demand 90+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑2 14 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.