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← Rankings

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

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 “grabber”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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

Kernel Video Sharing Integration shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ 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

Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 173 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 HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker 10K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #1 2 OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 UTM Event Tracker and Analytics, UTM Grabber 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 MailChimp Subscribe Form, Optin Builder, PopUp Builder, Form Builder 2K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons 30K+ · 4.7★ (173) wp.org #23 ↓1 18 too low 6 Tawk.To Live Chat 100K+ · 4.6★ (142) wp.org #21 ↓1 15 too low 7 HIPAA Compliant Forms with Drag’n’Drop HIPAA Form Builder. Sign HIPAA documents 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Blogger Importer 50K+ · 3.1★ (57) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Advanced Image Grabber 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 P Plugin Grabber 10+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Embed Google Photos album 3K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Cherry Picker 100+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Tab Return Notifier 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 R rss grabber — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Poly Support 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 AffiStyle – Affiliate Product Cards & Box Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 [凹凸曼]同步图片附件到腾讯云COS — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Seasonal Effects & Notice Bar (formerly Halloween Animations) 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 P Picture grabber, resizer and cropper 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Star Collector Review Widgets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Kernel Video Sharing Integration 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 UTM Leads Tracker – XLPlugins 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.