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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gift aid”

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 “gift aid”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 15.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Gratora – Donation and Fundraising Platform shows at wp.org #4 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 20+ 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.

S

Buried gem

Seamless Donations is Sunset places #4 on merit, 4.1★ from 70 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #1 2 CartSuite – Cart All In One For WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (51) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #13 10 too low 4 S Seamless Donations is Sunset 2K+ · 4.1★ (70) wp.org #14 10 too low 5 SureDonation – Donation Forms, Fundraising Campaigns & Donor Management 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Donor Merchant – Donation Form with Recurring Donations, Stripe and PayPal 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Order Tip & Donations for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 8 Gratora – Donation and Fundraising Platform 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Ape Donate 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Digital Lychee Donation Notifications for Stripe — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Cheerful Give — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 WPayme – Payment Forms, Donations & Subscriptions for PayPal & Razorpay — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Pet Freedom Companion — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 ForceField 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 DadsFam SEO 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15

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.