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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “iphone redirect”

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 “iphone redirect”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WP Mobile Redirect shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1199 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Ecwid by Lightspeed Ecommerce Shopping Cart 20K+ · 4.5★ (228) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Photo Engine (Media Organizer & Lightroom) 2K+ · 4.9★ (210) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #9 ↑5 4 too low 6 WP-Appbox 2K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #18 ↓1 11 too low 8 Download Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too low 9 Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 WPtouch – Make your WordPress Website Mobile-Friendly 40K+ · 3.7★ (341) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 B BSK PDF Manager 7K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 DevDome Redirect Manager: Link Rotator, Geo Redirect & 302 Redirect 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 14 too high 16 UpsellWP – Upsell and Related Products Offers for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (150) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 Locatoraid Store Locator 1K+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 ShiftController Employee Shift Scheduling 600+ · 4.4★ (22) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 WP Mobile Redirect 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 16 too high 23 Radio Player Page 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 no404 – Auto 404 Redirect — · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 2 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.