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

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 “kitchen”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 6 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

FoodBook Lite – Online Food Ordering System shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ 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

WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 133 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #1 2 WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Food Ordering & Table Booking System 5K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #2 3 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 RestroPress – Online Food Ordering System 1K+ · 4.4★ (102) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #6 7 Glossary 2K+ · 4.7★ (84) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8 WCPOS – Point of Sale (POS) plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.7★ (84) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Orderable – Restaurant & Food Ordering System 5K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Printus – Automatic Cloud Order Printing for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #21 ↓2 10 too low 12 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Print Anywhere & Create PDFs of Order Receipts, Invoices, Labels & More. 1K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14 Smart Online Order for Clover 1K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Jovvie Point of Sale POS for WooCommerce 100+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Oliver POS – WooCommerce POS for iPhone, iPad & Android 700+ · 4.2★ (90) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 HT Slider For Elementor 20K+ · 3.8★ (12) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 FoodOrd – Online Food Ordering & Table Reservation System 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 19 MyD Delivery 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 WowRestro – Restaurant Ordering & Operations for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 DineKit – Restaurant Menu, Online Ordering, Table Reservations & POS 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 RestroFood Lite – Online Food Ordering and Restaurant Management Plugin For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 FoodBook Lite – Online Food Ordering System 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24 iikoCloud integration for WooCommerce 60+ · 3.0★ (4) 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.