Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “gamer”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 of the top 17. 7 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 EleSpare – News, Magazine and Blog Addons for Elementor 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 News Element Elementor Blog Magazine 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Importify – AI Dropshipping for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 TemplateSpare – 1000+ WordPress Starter Templates & Full Site Migration Tool | 1-Click Import/Export & No-Code Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Publish to Schedule 3K+ · 4.3★ (23) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Yappa Widget 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Mode7 Game Log — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 R Reticlo Crosshair Library — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Random Sentence Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 W WoWpi Guild 10+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 JRM Killboard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 G GameBattles Gamer Tags — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Bait Stream for Twitch TV 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 L liveTV Bundle 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 A Auto-Schedule Posts 40+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #17

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.