Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “forks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 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

FG Joomla to WordPress places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 336 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 ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 5.0★ (89) wp.org #1 2 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #2 3 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Barion Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Customizer Backup & Reset 7K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) wp.org #10 ↑3 4 too low 7 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Zeno Font Resizer 5K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Albo Pretorio On line 700+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #12 ↓4 1 too low 12 Taxonomy Switcher 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #8 ↑1 8 too high 17 cformsII 3K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too high 18 Anti-spam Reloaded 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Relevanssi Live Ajax Search 7K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Salt Shaker 7K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too low 21 Delete Expired Transients 4K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Quantity Plus Minus Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 F FameTheme Demo Importer 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑1 14 too high 24 Geo to Lat 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.