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

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 “hiring”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Jobus – Job Board, Recruitment & Hiring Platform shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ 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

Menu Image, Icons made easy places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 123 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #1 2 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #2 3 HireZoot – Job Listings, Career Page & Recruitment Tool 30K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #3 ↑1 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 #4 ↓1 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Chat Button & Custom ChatGPT-Powered Bot by GetButton.io 20K+ · 4.5★ (175) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #7 ↑13 1 too high 9 CRM Perks Forms – WordPress Form Builder 1K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Team – Team Members Showcase Plugin 10K+ · 4.5★ (67) wp.org #17 ↑6 7 too low 11 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Menu Image, Icons made easy 100K+ · 4.5★ (123) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 ERP: Complete HR, Accounting & CRM Suite Built for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.4★ (149) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 ApplyOnline – Application Form Builder and Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (40) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Log in with Google 6K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Employee, Leave and Recruitment Management System – Crew HRM 100+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 BEA – Sanitize Filename 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too high 18 AI Job Listing – Job Board Plugin To Manage Hiring 90+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 WP School Calendar 400+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 Porsline 300+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Layouts for Divi 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Jobus – Job Board, Recruitment & Hiring Platform 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 17 too high 23 Order auto complete for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too high 24 Piwik PRO 2K+ · 3.3★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.