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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lightning network”

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 “lightning network”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

LNbits – Bitcoin Lightning and Onchain Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 10+ 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

Simply Static – The Static Site Generator places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 195 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2 BTCPay Server – Accept Bitcoin payments in WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 ↑4 2 too low 4 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 SMTP2GO for WordPress – Email Made Easy 40K+ · 5.0★ (67) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #6 ↑6 3 too high 10 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Accept Bitcoin instantly via OpenNode 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 ↑1 7 too high 12 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #15 ↑5 2 too low 14 Datafeedr WooCommerce Importer 4K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 AffiliateX – Amazon Affiliate Plugin, Product Boxes, Comparison Tables & Affiliate Link Tracking 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 Blink For WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Jetpack VideoPress 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 LNbits – Bitcoin Lightning and Onchain Payment Gateway 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 17 too high 21 Speed Bitcoin and Stablecoin Payments for WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓3 8 too high 22 Bitcoin Lightning Publisher for WordPress 80+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 AURPAY WooCommerce – Bitcoin/USDT Crypto Payment Gateway 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 Accept Bitcoin with your Lightning Address — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.