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

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 “fork”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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.

F

Ranked above its merit

FameTheme Demo Importer shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 30K+ 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

Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 768 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 5.0★ (89) wp.org #1 2 P Posts 2 Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #2 ↑11 3 cformsII 3K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (707) wp.org #7 ↓4 3 too low 5 Albo Pretorio On line 800+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Barion Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 Customizer Backup & Reset 7K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (768) wp.org #14 ↓6 6 too low 9 Taxonomy Switcher 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #10 ↑5 1 too low 10 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #13 ↑4 3 too low 11 Zeno Font Resizer 5K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #16 ↓12 4 too low 13 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #21 ↓7 7 too low 15 Anti-spam Reloaded 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #15 ↑3 16 Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too high 17 Relevanssi Live Ajax Search 7K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 ↑4 5 too high 18 Delete Expired Transients 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 Quantity Plus Minus Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Zeno Report Comments 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 G GoodBarber 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑5 3 too high 22 Live Rates for ShipStation 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Geo to Lat 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑5 6 too high 24 F FameTheme Demo Importer 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 13 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.