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

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 “helpful”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Help Metric Article Helpful Feedback shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 10+ 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

Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 367 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Was This Helpful? 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #6 ↑8 3 too low 4 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Helpful – Article Feedback Plugin 600+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Front End PM 4K+ · 4.8★ (220) wp.org #13 ↑7 5 too low 9 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #14 ↑8 4 too low 11 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #11 12 Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #23 ↓2 9 too low 15 Bulky – Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #9 ↓2 6 too high 16 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 too low 17 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #18 ↓7 1 too high 20 Catch IDs 20K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too low 21 ShareThis Dashboard for Google Analytics 80K+ · 3.6★ (138) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 Was This Helpful? – Article Feedback 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 18 too high 23 Astra Customizer Reset 20K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓6 7 too high 24 Help Metric Article Helpful Feedback 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 19 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.