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

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 “iteration”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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

Development Assistant shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Code Snippets places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 510 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 E2Pdf – Export Pdf Tool for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 NextGenThemes jsDelivr CDN 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Nifty Backups – WordPress Backup & Restore 70+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #17 ↓1 12 too low 6 Export All Posts, Products, Orders & Users | WP Ultimate Exporter | WordPress CSV Export 6K+ · 3.2★ (16) wp.org #6 7 Import Users & Customers with Meta | WP Ultimate CSV Importer Add-on 5K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #1 ↑1 6 too high 8 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Australia Post WooCommerce Extension 3K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #23 ↓1 14 too low 10 W WPPerformanceTester 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Database Reset Pro – Clean & Reset WordPress Database 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 PHP Vitals 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 CSV Resumable Importer for Tainacan 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Abdiel Global Variables 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 PressPilot Email Template Customizer 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too high 16 NIS2 Compliance 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Bat Activity Log 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 Host5 Fluid Splash Cursor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 TickTagGO Task Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 DPLS Schema AI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Bluvia – A/B Testing & CRO Tool — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Development Assistant 10+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 DXTechAI Claw Agent 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Web Archive 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.