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

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 “jan”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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

Janolaw AGB Hosting shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 170 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Smartsupp – live chat, AI shopping assistant and chatbots 20K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #1 2 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #2 3 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Timed Content 5K+ · 4.6★ (41) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Arconix Shortcodes 3K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170) wp.org #15 ↑6 7 too low 9 Default Featured Image 50K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Quill Forms | Conversational Multi Step Forms, Surveys & quizzes 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Event Organiser 20K+ · 4.6★ (140) wp.org #11 ↑4 1 too high 13 Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 Compact Archives 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 RPB Chessboard 1K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 SuperFaktura WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 EAN Barcode Generator for WooCommerce: UPC, ISBN & GTIN Inventory 10K+ · 4.9★ (56) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Osom Author Pro 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 WP Media Category Management 6K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Shared Albums for Google Photos 500+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 Reduce Unused CSS Solution with Critical CSS For WP 1K+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 Predictive Search for WooCommerce 700+ · 3.2★ (49) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Janolaw AGB Hosting 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.