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← Rankings

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

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 “genre”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Remove Taxonomy URL shows at wp.org #6 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 284 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 GS Books Showcase – Display Books in Grid, Slider & More | Library for WordPress 500+ · 4.8★ (42) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Books Gallery – Book Showcase, Library & Affiliate Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Yoast Test Helper 50K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too low 6 Novelist 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 B Book Review Library 200+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Radius Portfolio – Filterable Grid, Gallery & Slider Portfolio 7K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Music Store – WordPress eCommerce 200+ · 4.1★ (52) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Remove Taxonomy URL 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Donorbox – Free Recurring Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 8K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 Movie Engine – OTT Streaming Platform for Movies & TV Series 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too high 14 B bbp buddypress profile information 70+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 15 MMWW 200+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #24 ↓2 9 too low 16 B bbp profile information 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Sheet Music Libary 100+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 LabelGrid Tools 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 FICTBASE 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 MAS Videos 1K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Books Custom Post Type (Genre, Authors and Series) 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 RSS Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑4 3 too high 23 Radio Browser Stations 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too high 24 Sensei LMS Certificates 4K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.