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

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 “jul”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Premmerce Variation Swatches for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #2 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 995 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Compact Archives 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #5 3 too low 3

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709) wp.org #6 3 too low 4

Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Sales 500+ · 4.4★ (136) wp.org #4 5

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) wp.org #13 6 too low 8

FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #14 6 too low 9

File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #11 2 too low 10

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #9 2 too high 12

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #19 7 too low 13

AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #17 4 too low 14

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #15 1 too low 15

Duplicate Page 3M+ · 4.8★ (467) wp.org #16 1 too low 16

YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 P PiwigoPress 200+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #3 14 too high 18

Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #24 6 too low 19

YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #18 1 too high 20

Product Category Slider & Grid for WooCommerce – Reno Product Category 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Premmerce Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 90+ · 4.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #2 20 too high 23

GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Arrival for Woo — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 14 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.