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

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 “insensitive”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Sigma Search & Replace shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Block Emails & Addresses for WooCommerce Checkout 700+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Content Visibility for Divi Builder 2K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too low 7 Content Censor 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 StaffList 100+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #22 ↓2 14 too low 9 Duplicate Title Validator 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 C Clean Filenames 3K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Easy Search Replace – Find & Replace Text/HTML/URLs, Remove Footer Credit 700+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Real Time Validation For Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 M Magic the Gathering Card Tooltips 100+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 Interac e-Transfer / Email Money Transfer (EMT) Gateway for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 Text Replace – Find and Replace WordPress Strings 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 E Enhanced User Search 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 All Users Filter 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 Sigma Search & Replace 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Teydea Login Security – Password Policy, Complexity Rules & Expiration 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 Advanced Email Domain Restriction 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Admin Code Search 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Quick Search Replace 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Spam Word Blocker 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 Easy Alt Import Lite 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.