wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “jquery countdown”
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 “jquery countdown”, we agree with wp.org 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
IMS Countdown shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 70+ 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
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 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.
Countdown, Coming Soon, Maintenance – Countdown & Clock 10K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #1 2 
HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Uji Countdown 4K+ · 3.2★ (54) low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332)
wp.org #9 4 too low 6 
My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199)
wp.org #11 5 too low 7 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215)
wp.org #12 5 too low 8 
Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522)
wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #17 ↑2 7 too low 11 
CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326)
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66)
wp.org #8 4 too high 13 
Counter Box – Add Countdowns, Timers & Dynamic Counters to WordPress 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #4 9 too high 14 
Faview – Virtual Reviews for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (54)
wp.org #13 1 too high 15 
Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
Coupon X – Discount Popups, Promo Codes Pop Ups for WooCommerce & Announcement Popups 1K+ · 4.9★ (52)
wp.org #22 6 too low 17 
Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib 5K+ · 4.7★ (42)
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #10 9 too high 20 
DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #16 4 too high 21 IMS Countdown 70+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #6 15 too high 22 
Rs Christmas Santa – Snowfall, Christmas Lights, Holiday Music, Flying Sleigh & Countdown 50+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 
UltraAddons for Elementor 600+ · 4.5★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
oik 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.