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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “light blue”

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 “light blue”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Restore Old Admin Colors shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 30+ 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

Read More Without Refresh places #11 on merit, 4.2★ from 55 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Currency Converter Widget 2K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 Sunshine Photo Cart – Client Photo Gallery & Photo Proofing for Photographers 1K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #11 ↑2 7 too low 5 Appointment Booking Calendar 1K+ · 4.2★ (92) wp.org #9 ↑3 4 too low 6 Webyx for Elementor – Fullpage Fullscreen Scrolling Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 Gravity Forms Light Blue API Add-On 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 WP GPX Maps 4K+ · 4.1★ (59) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Simple Accessibility Button 900+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 11 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (29) wp.org #17 ↑3 5 too low 13 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Autopay 3K+ · 2.1★ (7) wp.org #2 13 too high 16 Revision Manager TMC 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Rs Christmas Santa – Snowfall, Christmas Lights, Holiday Music, Flying Sleigh & Countdown 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 11 too high 18 Stock Market Ticker 2K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Restore Old Admin Colors 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 15 too high 21 AboveWP Admin Dark Mode 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Fast Fuzzy Search – WordPress & WooCommerce Live Search 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 LMSCrafter Gradient Text for Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 MWR Hit Counter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 11 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.