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

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 “footprint”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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

Footprint – Find what slows your site shows at wp.org #1 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 402 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too low 3

Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 4

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6

Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 1 too low 9

ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size 100K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11

Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #15 ↑5 3 too low 13

Footprint – Find what slows your site 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #1 12 too high 14

WindPress – Tailwind CSS integration for WordPress 3K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15

Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #13 2 too high 16

Dark Mode Toggle 2K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #12 4 too high 17

LexonRank: AI Link Building, Free Backlinks, GEO & SEO Automation 800+ · 4.1★ (31) wp.org #23 6 too low 18

Caddy – WooCommerce Side Cart & Free Shipping Bar 3K+ · 3.9★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #24 6 too low 19

Custom Add to Cart labels for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.9★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20

Soro – SEO Autopilot & AI Content Writer 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21

Simple Google Calendar Outlook Events Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #21 22

Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #22 23

Enhanced Autoload Manager 600+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too high 24

Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews 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.