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

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 “fund”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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.

Ranked above its merit

Payoneer Checkout shows at wp.org #14 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Groups – Memberships and Access Control places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 382 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 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #3 ↑2 2 too low 2 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 Wallet for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (188) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #7 ↑5 2 too low 6 Donation Platform for WooCommerce: Fundraising & Donation Management 7K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 FundEngine – Donation and Crowdfunding Platform 1K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 Donorbox – Free Recurring Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 8K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 PW WooCommerce Gift Cards 20K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Civist – Petitions and Fundraising 900+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 WP Crowdfunding 2K+ · 4.4★ (89) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 WhyDonate – FREE Donate button – Crowdfunding – Fundraising 800+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 Wallet System for WooCommerce – Digital Wallet, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Instant Cashback, Referral program, Partial & Subscription Payments 1K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 ABC Crypto Checkout 1K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) wp.org #17 ↑7 18 YITH WooCommerce Affiliates 6K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Payoneer Checkout 5K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 GoDaddy Payments for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Zeno Crypto Checkout for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 22 Zeffy Donate Button 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 WPC Order Tip for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Read More WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.