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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hide draft”

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 “hide draft”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

C3 Cloudfront Cache Controller shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Hide Drafts in Menus 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Real Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Collect Customer Reviews and Video Testimonials 40K+ · 4.7★ (226) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Machete 6K+ · 5.0★ (52) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Draft List 40+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 C3 Cloudfront Cache Controller 3K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #6 13 too high 20 Conditional Blocks – Advanced Content Visibility Control for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Quick Drafts Access 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Falcon – Cache, Performance, Security, Cleanup, and Tweaks 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (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.