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

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 “grouped”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

LWS Cleaner shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Direct Checkout for WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 408 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

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 #2 1 too low 2

WPC Grouped Product for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4

Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5

Product Import Export for WooCommerce – CSV Product Importer & Exporter 80K+ · 4.6★ (413) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6

W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7

Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #7 8

Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 ↓2 3 too high 9

Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10

WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #17 ↓3 7 too low 11

Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #12 1 too low 12

Direct Checkout for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (408) wp.org #20 8 too low 13

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #15 ↑7 2 too low 14

Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #13 1 too high 15

WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 4 too high 16

LWS Cleaner 20K+ · 4.8★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17

Additional Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (162) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓6 3 too high 18

Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #16 2 too high 19

FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20

Min Max Quantities – Set Minimum/Maximum Quantity & Price Limits with Step Control for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 1 too high 21

Bulky – Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (53) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22

USPS Simple Shipping for Woocommerce 8K+ · 4.4★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↑1 23

Custom Add to Cart labels for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.9★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too high 24

WPC AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24

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.