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

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 guide”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Host Domination Welcome Book: Free Digital Guest Guide for Vacation Rentals, B&Bs & Hotels shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 20+ 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

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #1 2 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too low 4 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7 Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) wp.org #9 ↑10 2 too low 8 Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Guest Post and Frontend Submission Forms 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Export and Import Users and Customers 50K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 Co-Authors Plus 20K+ · 3.5★ (77) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 Guest Support – Customer Support Ticket System Without Login 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓2 9 too high 15 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Hotel Guest Guide – Hotelness 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 ↑7 14 too high 17 MotoPress Hotel Booking 10K+ · 3.7★ (65) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 Free Backlinks & Guest Post Exchange – Consolety 40+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 WebToffee EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Wedding RSVP – Wedding Guest List, Meal Choices & RSVP Tracker 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too high 21 Host Domination Welcome Book: Free Digital Guest Guide for Vacation Rentals, B&Bs & Hotels 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑2 17 too high 22 CBX User Online & Last Login 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Vachr Short-Term Rental Reservations 30+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Jotform – AI Chatbot 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 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.