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

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 “gravatars”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 4K+ 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

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 1488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #12 ↑4 3 too low 10 Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #16 ↓5 6 too low 11 Guest Author 5K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↑4 2 too high 14 Lazy Load for Comments 2K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑2 11 too high 17 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Custom Profile Picture – Replace Gravatar with Your Own Images 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 11 too high 19 ThemeZee Widget Bundle 5K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Advanced User Avatar | Custom Profile Picture Uploader for WordPress, WooCommerce, and BuddyPress 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 OGEEAT 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 22 MembershipWorks Login Connector 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 23 L Local Gravatars 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24 Mirror Gravatar 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.