wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ipod touch”

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 “ipod touch”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 7 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

Push Notification iOS shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic 10K+ · 4.4★ (1053) stale but ranked wp.org #3 2 too low 2 F Favicon Rotator 20K+ · 4.3★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

WPtouch – Make your WordPress Website Mobile-Friendly 40K+ · 3.7★ (341) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Equivalent Mobile Redirect 2K+ · 3.9★ (33) closure risk stale but ranked wp.org #7 3 too low 5

xili-language 600+ · 3.9★ (14) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #4 1 too high 6

iPad Rubberneck Disrupter 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #2 4 too high 7 E EsAudioPlayer 200+ · 5.0★ (5) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #9 2 too low 8

WP-UserAgent 200+ · 5.0★ (5) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #10 2 too low 9 N NextGEN Scroll Gallery 1K+ · 4.1★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #18 9 too low 10 M MMUnicode Embed 50+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #8 2 too high 11 I iWPhone 70+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #11 12

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.