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

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 “hooks”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 6 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

Astra Theme Visual Hooks shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simply Show Hooks 1K+ · 5.0★ (63) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Genesis Simple Hooks 20K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #2 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 Astra Hooks 20K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too high 8 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #9 ↑4 1 too low 9 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #13 ↑8 4 too low 10 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #17 ↓3 7 too low 11 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #19 ↓4 8 too low 12 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #21 ↑3 8 too low 14 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #15 ↑8 1 too low 15 Safe SVG 1M+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Astra Theme Visual Hooks 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↑1 12 too high 17 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 W WC-AC Hook 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #12 ↓3 9 too high 22 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 WP Hooks Finder 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 WPeMatico Custom Hooks 50+ · 3.0★ (2) 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.