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

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 “functions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Friendly Functions for Welcart shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #1 2 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #5 ↑5 3 too low 3 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #3 4 Hide Cart Functions 3K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #8 ↑3 3 too low 6 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #10 ↑6 4 too low 7 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too low 8 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too low 12 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #14 ↓10 2 too low 13 WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #16 ↑5 1 too low 16 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #21 ↓9 4 too low 18 SMTP Mailer 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #19 ↓5 1 too low 19 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #18 ↑2 1 too high 20 Foxtool All-in-One: Contact chat button, Custom login, Media optimize images 7K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Disable Generate Thumbnails 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Friendly Functions for Welcart 900+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #4 ↓2 18 too high 23 CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #23 24 WPS Child Theme Generator 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑4 9 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.