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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “game dev”

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 “game dev”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.

Ranked above its merit

Manager for Steam shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 30+ 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

Finale Lite – Sales Countdown Timer & Discount for WooCommerce places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 151 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 Dinosaur Game 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #1 2 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 FunnelKit Automations – Email Marketing Automation and CRM for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 5.0★ (346) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 StreamWeasels Twitch Integration 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Graphina – Charts and Graphs For Elementor 9K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Finale Lite – Sales Countdown Timer & Discount for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (151) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 Social Login 4K+ · 4.3★ (366) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9 Enable CORS 5K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 Price by Quantity & Bulk Quantity Discounts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 YITH WooCommerce Subscription 6K+ · 3.0★ (46) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Printcart Store – Web to Print Product Designer for WooCommerce 60+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 xili-tidy-tags 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Molongui Post Contributors: Multi-Role Contributor Attribution 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Manager for Steam 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Yova Game Cards for ludoteca.dev — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Chess Podium — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 LoginOne Random Game Picker for Steam — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 BridgerPay Woocommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑3 8 too high 20 Orbem Studio — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Xpro Addons For Beaver Builder – Lite 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 jsonyo — JSON Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Swiss Floorball API — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 G GameQuery Server Lists — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.