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← Rankings

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

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 “interesting”, we agree with wp.org 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

Essential Widgets shows at wp.org #3 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 107 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #1 2 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #2 3 Reveal IDs 40K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #4 5 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #12 ↑11 7 too low 6 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Image Photo Gallery Final Tiles Grid 20K+ · 4.7★ (353) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Void Contact Form 7 Widget For Elementor Page Builder 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #18 ↓2 9 too low 10 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Catch Web Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑2 6 too high 13 Keyword Research Tool 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Podlove Podcast Publisher 3K+ · 4.3★ (45) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Templateberg – Gutenberg Templates, WordPress Themes Template Kits & WordPress Templates 6K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 T Themify Event Post 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Essential Widgets 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Custom Price for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 L Lessify WordPress 300+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 F4 Post Tree 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Ibtana – Ecommerce Product Addons 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 ElementInvader Addons for Elementor 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Block Metrics – Animated State Counter 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.