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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gnu social”

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 “gnu social”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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

Membee Login shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Gwolle Guestbook places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 113 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709) wp.org #1 2 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 EleSpare – Elementor News, Magazine & Blog Addons with Post Grid 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 AF Companion – Starter Sites, Speed Booster & Growth Suite for Professional Publishing 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Ocean Extra 400K+ · 3.3★ (67) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Donation Platform for WooCommerce: Fundraising & Donation Management 7K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) 9K+ · 4.6★ (244) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #19 ↓3 8 too low 12 Header Footer Builder for Elementor 30K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑5 5 too high 13 connectDaily Events Calendar Plugin 90+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Turbo Addons Elementor 3K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓4 3 too high 15 Membee Login 400+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #6 ↓1 9 too high 16 Academic Certificate Verification – Certificate Management & Certificate Validator 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 SEO Bulk Admin 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 S Spice Social Share 4K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓4 4 too high 19 Inspiro Starter Sites – 20+ Free Demo Templates for Gutenberg & Elementor 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓4 6 too high 20 Titan Social Login 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Social Post Customizer for Jetpack — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 Sentio Widgets for Elementor 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 FastOG — Dynamic Social Cards & Link Previews for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 SimpleSocial 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.