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

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 “ipad”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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.

F

Ranked above its merit

Favicon Rotator shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Download Manager places #7 on merit, 4.1★ from 1006 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 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #1 2 Oliver POS – WooCommerce POS for iPhone, iPad & Android 700+ · 4.2★ (90) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Wonder Slider Lite 8K+ · 4.2★ (24) wp.org #4 ↑17 1 too low 4 WP YouTube Lyte 20K+ · 4.8★ (206) wp.org #12 ↓2 8 too low 5 Mobile Detect 3K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Compact WP Audio Player 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #19 ↓3 12 too low 8 Free WooCommerce Products Slider/Carousel Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 WP-Appbox 2K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 HTML5 Maps 4K+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too high 12 Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) wp.org #22 ↓2 10 too low 13 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 CP Media Player – Audio Player and Video Player 3K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #21 ↓4 6 too low 16 Lightbox slider – Responsive Lightbox Gallery 3K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too high 17 B BSK PDF Manager 7K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 MOBILOOK — Mobile View & Mobile‑Friendly Test 1K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too high 20 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 F Favicon Rotator 20K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #9 ↓1 12 too high 22 Hyper PWA – Bringing Modern Progressive Web App Experiences 400+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Radio Player Page 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 isMobile() Shortcode for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓5 1 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.