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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hit counter”

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 “hit counter”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

Personal Hit Counter shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics places #8 on merit, 4.2★ from 232 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SRS Simple Hits Counter 8K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #1 2 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (315) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (391) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #12 ↑2 7 too low 6 WP-PostViews 100K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too low 7 Joinchat – Enhanced "click to chat" 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #19 ↑1 12 too low 8 Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.2★ (232) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (47) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 WPS Visitor Counter 10K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 MWR Hit Counter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 10 too high 13 WP-DownloadManager 3K+ · 4.0★ (37) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Page View Count 10K+ · 4.0★ (55) wp.org #20 ↓3 5 too low 16 Yoast Test Helper 60K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Counter-Hits 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 13 too high 18 LottieFiles 7K+ · 2.3★ (18) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 Word Counter Plus 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 The Hits Counter 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Digi Eye Redirects 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Advanced Redirect Manager 301 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Wonderful Repeated Hit Blocker for Wordfence 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Personal Hit Counter 30+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #5 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.