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← Rankings

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

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 “idle”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 1039 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Inactive Logout 10K+ · 4.8★ (106) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Idle User Logout 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Flying Scripts: Delay JavaScript to Improve Site Speed & Performance 30K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #3 4 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #12 ↓3 7 too low 6 WPForce Logout – WordPress User Login Logout Management Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (66) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #17 ↑1 10 too low 8 Ultimate Floating Widgets – Make popup sidebars 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too high 9 WPC AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #5 ↑2 4 too high 10 Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #19 ↑1 9 too low 11 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #21 ↑1 10 too low 12 Fullscreen Galleria 800+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too high 13 Accordions 20K+ · 4.5★ (90) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 B BuddyPress Docs 6K+ · 4.4★ (35) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too high 16 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 GTM Kit – Google Tag Manager & GA4 integration 30K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too high 19 User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 H Hidden Password Protected Pages 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑2 11 too high 21 Z Zone Manager (Zoninator) 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Sessions 900+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 SKT Page Builder 2K+ · 2.7★ (7) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.