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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “heartbeat api”

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 “heartbeat api”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Heartbeat Controller shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 100 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Dynamic Front-End Heartbeat Control 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #3 4 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #10 11 WP-UserOnline 10K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too low 12 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 Buddy Notification Bell 100+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Heartbeat Control 70K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 JetHost Total Care – Security & Enhancements 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Developer Debug Tools 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Heartbeat Controller 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 15 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.