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← Rankings

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

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 “folding”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Preloader Awesome – Page Loading Animation with Spinner & Gif shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ 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

Video Slider – Slider Carousel places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 71 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #5 ↑3 2 too low 4 CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 AGCA – Custom Dashboard & Login Page 20K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Bellows Accordion Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Product Layouts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too high 8 Video Slider – Slider Carousel 3K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 HTML Editor for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 Slider Carousel – Image Slider 3K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 KolorWeb Log Manager: cleaver debugging management 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 F70 Simple Table of Contents 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Sheetable – Google Sheets to WP Table 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 MenuVerse – Mobile Bottom Menu & App-Style Navigation Bar 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 File Manager, Code Editor, and Backup by Managefy 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Robse Form Guard — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 Megop SEO – Bulk Editor, Internal Links, Broken Links & Search Console 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Lynbro Danadresse — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 PreloadX – Custom Preloader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Lazy Syntax Highlighter — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 W WebXDevelop AI Search Readiness Audit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 IndexReloaded 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Achla AI Search – Cited AI Answers from Your WordPress Content — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Preloader Awesome – Page Loading Animation with Spinner & Gif 1K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.