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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “floating dock”

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 “floating dock”, we and wp.org disagree 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

Sticky Content – Make Any Section Sticky on Scroll shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

File Manager places #6 on merit, 4.3★ from 202 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too low 5 Squad Modules Lite – Free Divi 5 & Divi 4 Modules for Divi Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 File Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (202) wp.org #15 ↑3 9 too low 7 LiveLang – Smart Multilingual Visual Translator 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 RobArt Text Collector 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Tapdock – Floating Call & Chat Buttons 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 Revi.io – Customer and Product Reviews 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 Hunter Dock – Mobile Bottom Navigation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Quick-Launch Dashboard Dock – Fast WP Admin Shortcuts & Floating Dashboard Navigation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 ODD — Apps for OpenStation 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 YokohamaLab SocialDock — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 Rawnaq – Elementor Widgets, Gutenberg Blocks & Divi Modules — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 RobArt Colour Collector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too low 17 TIW Dashboard – Admin customizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 AI Content Writer & Auto Blogging for WordPress 30+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Ikarexe Tools — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 TukiFlow Direct Checkout for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Boat Notes Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 Carfitly – AI Auto Parts Fitment Assistant — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 ClickDock – Instant Message, Call, Contact & More — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Sticky Content – Make Any Section Sticky on Scroll 400+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 19 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.