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← Rankings

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

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 “historical”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

MetalpriceAPI shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 500+ 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

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 251 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 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Smart COD for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid 40K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #6 7 Stockdio Historical Chart 800+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #1 6 too high 8 Currency Converter Widget 2K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 M Media Library Enable Infinite Scrolling 7K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #13 ↑4 3 too low 11 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #21 ↑2 10 too low 12 Plausible Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Chronological Posts 1K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Klaviyo 100K+ · 2.8★ (24) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Email Marketing by EmailOctopus 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19 bbPress Voting 400+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Simple Analytics 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Order Splitter for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 MetalpriceAPI 500+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 Ecomail 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Parse.ly 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.