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

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 box”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Jagif – WooCommerce Free Gift shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 453 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Gift Cards (Gift Vouchers and Packages) (WooCommerce Supported) 1K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Gift Wrapping for WooCommerce 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #10 ↑2 7 too low 4 Flexible PDF Coupons – Gift Cards & Vouchers for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Coupzy Coupon Box for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #17 ↓3 11 too low 7 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 WebToffee Gift Cards for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Free Gift Product For WooCommerce 700+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453) wp.org #23 ↓2 13 too low 11 Advanced Coupons for WooCommerce – BOGO, Store Credit & WooCommerce Coupons 20K+ · 4.4★ (184) wp.org #19 ↑3 8 too low 12 Sliding Cart for WooCommerce by FunnelKit – Skip Cart & Reach WooCommerce Checkout Faster 30K+ · 5.0★ (111) wp.org #15 ↑4 3 too low 13 Product Bundle Builder for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too low 14 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too low 15 Freetop – Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #21 ↑2 6 too low 16 MH Free Gifts for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17 mPDF add-on for RTL and Unicode Support 4K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 GIFT4U – Gift Cards All in One for Woo 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 B Beltoft Gift Cards for WooCommerce 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 Simple Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create a Loyalty Program 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 AI Search for WooCommerce – Semantic Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓6 1 too low 22 BundleBoss – Product Bundles, Mix and Match & Build a Box for WooCommerce 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 Jagif – WooCommerce Free Gift 40+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 Gift Ladder for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑3 12 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.