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← Rankings

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

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 “joomla”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

User Sync shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ 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

WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 593 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 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #1 2 reSmush.it : The original free image compressor and optimizer plugin 100K+ · 4.3★ (166) wp.org #2 3 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Gantry 5 Framework 7K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Chat Widget: Floating Customer Support Button for 30+ Channels, Supporting SMS, Calls, and Chat – Bit Assist 9K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 WP DSGVO Tools (GDPR) 10K+ · 4.0★ (116) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WP OAuth Server ( Login with WordPress ) 1K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 RSFirewall! 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #18 ↓3 7 too low 12 Linguise – AI Automatic Multilingual Translation 1K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #12 13 Anti Spam and list cleaner – AcyChecker 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Next-Cart Store to WooCommerce Migration 100+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 W WP Wrapper 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16 .html for all url 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 17 J2W Migration 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 W wsecure lite 200+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Store Locator Widget 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Elite Licenser addon-lite for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 P Planyo online reservation system 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 PHP Vitals 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 User Sync 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 PressMeGPT – Header & Footer for Elementor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.