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

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 “gardening”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20. 3 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

Joy of Plants Library shows at wp.org #14 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 C Custom Upload Dir 5K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #1 2 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #2 ↑7 3 Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Funnelforms Free – Multi Step Form, Contact Form & Lead Funnel Builder 1K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #4 5 SKT Templates – 100% Free Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓1 10 too low 6 SAFFIRE AI Product Recommendations for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too high 7 S Scintilla Blocks 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Kleingarten — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9 PlantShop for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 GroanDeck Dad Jokes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓4 11 Freeze Shipping Alert and Global Hardiness Zones and Frost Data — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too high 12 TechinSol AI Connect for Claude & Codex — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Karrya Field service management system 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Giant Checkout Offers for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Zaffro – AI Sales Agent for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 Nora AI Publisher: AI Blog Writer & Auto Publishing — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 B Bikit Business Directory 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 P PS4L Pond Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Joy of Plants Library 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 B Bing Boards 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 M Moon Calendar Widget 100+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 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.