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

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 “friendship”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

6Arshid Social Community shows at wp.org #13 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its — 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GamiPress – Gamification plugin to reward points, badges & ranks in WordPress, now with AI 10K+ · 4.9★ (493) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 B BuddyPress Extended Friendship Request 200+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Youzify – BuddyPress Community, User Profile, Social Network & Membership Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe 1K+ · 4.4★ (89) wp.org #5 ↑16 6 BuddyPress Default Data 300+ · 3.9★ (22) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Block, Suspend, Report for BuddyPress 500+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #19 ↓1 12 too low 8 BuddyPress Activity Filter 300+ · 3.5★ (14) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 Friends 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓1 11 too low 10 myCred Addons – Ultimate myCred Modules To Support WordPress Gamification and Loyalty Rewards 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 B BuddyProfileMessageUX Free 50+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Push notification for Mobile and Web app 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 BuddyPress Automatic Friends 200+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 P Printess Editor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too high 15 Notification : BuddyPress 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too high 16 GameEngine – Gamification, Points, Badges & Leaderboards 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Arttree Order Notify with LINE for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Vampire Character Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Link Extension for XFN — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 6Arshid Social Community — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 CosmyDay Astrology Widgets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 A AstrologyAPI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Zapify — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 L-Clutch — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 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.