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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “job application”

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 “job application”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Auto Delete Applications – Add-on for HireZoot shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 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

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #1 2 HireZoot – Job Listings, Career Page & Recruitment Tool 30K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #4 5 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #6 7 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #16 ↑3 9 too low 8 JobWP – Job Board Plugin for WordPress | Job Listings, Career Page & Applications 1K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #22 ↑1 13 too low 10 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #12 ↑8 2 too low 11 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #14 ↑4 3 too low 12 Go Fetch Jobs (for WP Job Manager) 600+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #10 ↑4 2 too high 13 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #17 ↑5 4 too low 14 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Job Manager & Career – Manage job board listings, and recruitments 1K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too high 18 ApplyOnline – Application Form Builder and Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (40) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 M MAS Companies For WP Job Manager 1K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #11 ↓2 8 too high 20 JobBoardWP – Job Board Listings and Submissions 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #20 ↓7 1 too high 22 Regions for WP Job Manager 7K+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too high 23 Auto Delete Applications – Add-on for HireZoot 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Jobus – Job Board, Recruitment & Hiring Platform 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.