Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “ie”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Images Optimize and Upload CF7 shows at wp.org #12 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Seraphinite Accelerator places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 476 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 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit Htaccess File 40K+ · 5.0★ (102) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Gravity Forms Email Blacklist 10K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Datafeedr WooCommerce Importer 4K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #19 ↑3 11 too low 9 E Expanding Archives 3K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 JSM Non-Breaking Space (nbsp) for French Content 1K+ · 4.6★ (15) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 B BSK PDF Manager 7K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #11 12 CP Media Player – Audio Player and Video Player 3K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13 Genesis Connect for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #10 ↑4 3 too high 14 CoolClock 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 WP MapIt 2K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Images Optimize and Upload CF7 700+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #12 ↑2 5 too high 18 Easy Bootstrap Shortcode 6K+ · 4.0★ (50) wp.org #24 ↓13 6 too low 19 RSFirewall! 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 PDF Forms Filler for CF7 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too high 21 Filterable Portfolio 1K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #21 ↑2 22 WPSSO Schema Product Metadata for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 WPSSO WP Sitemaps XML with News, Image, and Video Sitemap 400+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Disable Browser Telephone Format Detection 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.