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← Rankings

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

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 “forest”, 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Vercel AI Gateway Provider shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 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

Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 211 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Pagination Styler for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #3 4 Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 Stripe Payment Forms by WP Simple Pay – Accept Credit Card Payments + Subscriptions with Stripe 8K+ · 4.4★ (117) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Forms Rb 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 MyBookTable Bookstore by Stormhill Media 1K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too low 8 GeeK! – Movie & Game Database 70+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too low 9 Tree-Nation for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 too high 10 Digital Clock 300+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 LMSCrafter Gradient Text for Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 OXP Breaking News Ticker 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 Vercel AI Gateway Provider 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 Verse of the Day Widget for WP 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Gaming-Plus Game Server Status 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑3 4 too high 16 WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too high 17 Outline to Mind Map 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Onyx Dark Mode Switcher 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Jamie’s Header Effects 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Support Helpdesk Ticket System Lite 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Magic Featured Image Generator (AI Generated) 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 PaceQuill Post Scheduler 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 SDAweb Calendar Sync for Google Calendar 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Cubixsol Multi AI Image Generator 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.