Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 orders”, 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

Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 25 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 142 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 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 #5 ↓2 3 too low 3 Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce 100K+ · 5.0★ (350) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Phone Orders for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Guest Order Assigner 200+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 Smart Online Order for Clover 1K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #9 10 OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #18 ↑2 7 too low 12 WC Cancel Order 5K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #20 ↓3 7 too low 14 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 B2BKing — Ultimate WooCommerce B2B and Wholesale Plugin — Wholesale Prices, Bulk Order Form & More 10K+ · 4.9★ (109) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too high 18 PiWeb Export Customers Users & Guest customer to CSV for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 WebToffee EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Autocomplete for WooCommerce Orders 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 22 Advanced Autocomplete Orders for WooCommerce – By HappyDevs 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Orders Chat for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too high 24 Track Orders for WooCommerce – Multi Carrier WooCommerce Shipping 200+ · 3.7★ (3) 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.