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← Rankings

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

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 “guest”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Guest Order Assigner shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Temporary Login Without Password places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1549 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 wp.org
1 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Guest Author 5K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too low 5 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too low 6 Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 ( (Simply) Guest Author Name 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #19 ↓1 11 too low 9 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too high 10 WP Travel Engine – Tour Booking Plugin – Tour Operator Software 20K+ · 4.9★ (594) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 PW WooCommerce Gift Cards 20K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 PiWeb Export Customers Users & Guest customer to CSV for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Guest Post and Frontend Submission Forms 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Guest Order Assigner 200+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Easy Post Submission – Frontend Posting, Guest Publishing & Submit Content for WordPress 4K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 too high 20 Wedding RSVP – Wedding Guest List, Meal Choices & RSVP Tracker 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Guest Support – Customer Support Ticket System Without Login 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 WP Guest Bar 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Guest Checkout Account Creator 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 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.