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← Rankings

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

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 “group”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 7 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

Button Group shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 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

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.4★ from 1445 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #15 ↓3 7 too low 9 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 PublishPress Tag Groups: Stylish Displays For Your Tags and Categories 3K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 P Private groups 1K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #23 ↓3 8 too low 16 Plugin Groups 1K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 Groups 404 Redirect 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 WUPO Group Attributes for WooCommerce 400+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21 WP User Groups 600+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Group chat for WordPress – Minnit Chat 500+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Button Group 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 FOXPOST – Packeta Group 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑2 11 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.