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

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 “honey”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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

Nutrition Info for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #16 12 too low 5 Universal Honey Pot 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Hide Trackbacks 300+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 MyCryptoCheckout – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 100+ altcoins for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #22 ↓1 15 too low 8 Cookie Dough Compliance and Consent for GDPR 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Captcha Spam Blocker 80+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 NM Contact Forms 200+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #24 ↓1 14 too low 11 Editor Custom Color Palette 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 12 Mentions Legales Par Webdeclic 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 ChatLab – AI Chatbot for WordPress and WooCommerce 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 A Apiary Simple Syrup Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 TechArk Spam Shield for Contact Form 7 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Lexilink — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 AnalyticsBadger: Analytics Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 S Sovaryx Login Security — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Nutrition Info for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 TSO Swiss Knife – Advanced Maintenance & Developer Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Benson for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 PizzaTier — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Slide Crafter Reborn 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Mailster Block Forms 60+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.