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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “github import”

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 “github import”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Import Markdown – Versatile Markdown Importer shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ 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.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 One Click Demo Import 1M+ · 4.3★ (79) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Import Users from CSV 10K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Import Eventbrite Events 3K+ · 4.5★ (52) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #10 11 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Widget Importer & Exporter 200K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 LearnPress – Backup & Migration Tool 5K+ · 3.0★ (16) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Easy Demo Importer – A Modern One-Click Demo Import Solution 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 WPZOOM Addons for Elementor – Starter Templates & Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Import Markdown – Versatile Markdown Importer 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 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.