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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “http request”

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 “http request”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Proxy Cache Purge shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 26 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 HTTP Requests Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 L Log HTTP Requests 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #7 8 GDPR Data Request Form 5K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too low 11 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #14 ↓4 3 too low 12 NP Quote Request for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.6★ (87) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #21 ↓4 4 too low 18 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Page Speed Optimizer: HTTP/2 Push, Async JavaScript, and Defer CSS 6K+ · 4.7★ (64) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Request a Quote for WooCommerce – Get a Quote Button 6K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #13 ↑2 7 too high 21 Inspect HTTP Requests 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 WPC Request a Quote for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 GoPrayer 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑2 4 too high 24 BlackSwan | Block External Request 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.