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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “left right”

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 “left right”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

WP ESIGNATURE RTL (Right to Left) shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 574 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 No Right Click Images 20K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #1 2 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #2 3 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #10 ↑5 3 too low 8 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #15 ↓5 7 too low 9 Parsi Date | بسته فارسی ساز وردپرس و ووکامرس پارسی دیت 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #11 ↑6 2 too low 10 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 B Bitron Right of Withdrawal 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 ↑1 8 too high 12 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #20 ↓4 7 too low 14 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #14 ↓2 15 WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (39) wp.org #22 ↑2 5 too low 18 PDF & Print by BestWebSoft – WordPress Posts and Pages PDF Generator Plugin 9K+ · 3.9★ (102) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too high 20 Fixed Bottom Menu 4K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 EU Consumer Rights for WooCommerce – Guarantee Notice, GARAN Label, Withdrawal Button, Right to Repair, Omnibus Price & GPSR 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↑6 5 too high 22 Accordions – Responsive Accordion & FAQ Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 DevVn Float Left Right Ads 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 WP ESIGNATURE RTL (Right to Left) 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 15 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.