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

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 “glyphs”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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.

Buried gem

Gutenberg Block Editor Toolkit – EditorsKit places #5 on merit, 4.6★ from 176 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 Brizy – Page Builder 60K+ · 4.7★ (972) wp.org #1 2 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP-Print 8K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP-EMail 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #4 5 Gutenberg Block Editor Toolkit – EditorsKit 20K+ · 4.6★ (176) wp.org #16 11 too low 6 WP MyLinks 1K+ · 4.0★ (14) wp.org #6 7 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Tapdock – Floating Call & Chat Buttons 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 MWR Hit Counter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 Typography Stylist 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 Fontier – Font Preview Plugin for Easy Digital Downloads, WooCommerce, and Dokan 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Squad Post Grid – Divi 5 & Divi 4 Post Grid Module for Divi Builder 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Easy Architect 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Web Makinası – Sohbet Butonu 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Indesign Text Marquee 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Dragon Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & 404 Fixer 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 cloaked.ink — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 Indesign Nepali Post Date — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 Modern Maps — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 RTM Font Showcase — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 A Astro Zodiac Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 A Axismundi Geodata — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 SHIED WORLD Schema Markup — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 WP FOFT Loader 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 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.