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

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 “interface”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

CDI – Collect and Deliver Interface for Woocommerce shows at wp.org #3 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #14 ↑6 4 too low 11 WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #10 ↓5 1 too high 12 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3003) wp.org #15 ↑7 3 too low 13 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #13 14 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #20 ↓2 5 too low 16 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 CDI – Collect and Deliver Interface for Woocommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 ↑1 18 too high 22 Resizable Sidebar for the Gutenberg Block Editor 3K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑3 17 too high 24 Aruba HiSpeed Cache 100K+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #19 5 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.