wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “go back”

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 “go back”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

MakeITeasy Back To Top shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 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 signals wp.org

Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 3

Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #3 4

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5

WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) not PHP-current wp.org #8 ↓4 3 too low 6

Back To The Top Button 4K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #19 10 too low 10

BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #15 ↓4 3 too low 13

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #14 ↓4 1 too low 14

Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 2 too low 15

Go Fetch Jobs (for WP Job Manager) 600+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #11 4 too high 16

Save & Go 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 10 too high 17

No Right Click Images 20K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #23 ↓4 6 too low 18

MakeITeasy Back To Top 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↑1 13 too high 19

Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20

Back and Forward Button 200+ · 3.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21

Beam me up Scotty – Back to Top Button 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22

AdOpt | Easy Multi-Regulations Cookie Banner. 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 23

NS Smooth Scroll Back to Top 100+ · 4.7★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #21 3 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.