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

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 “legacy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 4 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

WooCommerce Legacy REST API shows at wp.org #2 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 21 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.5★ average from 29 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header places #3 on merit, 4.7★ from 763 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #11 ↓3 8 too low 4

Pinpoint Booking System – Legacy version 2K+ · 3.6★ (185) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #9 ↑3 4 too low 6

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement wp.org #3 3 too high 7

ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #10 ↑3 3 too low 8

Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9

Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10

Stop Spammers Classic 20K+ · 4.4★ (243) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too low 11

bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too low 12

Better Font Awesome 60K+ · 4.5★ (88) heavy footprint wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too low 13

Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) heavy footprint wp.org #17 ↑4 4 too low 14

Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #20 ↓4 6 too low 15

CC Child Pages 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too low 16

Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #22 ↓3 6 too low 17

FormLift for Keap (Legacy) Web Forms 300+ · 4.6★ (12) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 W WP-dTree 2K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #18 19

IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20

Simple URLs Legacy 50+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #6 14 too high 21

GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22

Weaver Xtreme Theme Support 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too high 23

WooCommerce Legacy REST API 400K+ · 1.5★ (29) host-installed base low rating, top placement wp.org #2 21 too high 24 L Legacy URL Suffix & SEO Preserver 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓3 12 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.