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

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 “lingual”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Clover Payments for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.7★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 52 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Say What? 40K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #1 2 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #2 3 Loyalty Points Rewards and Referral for WooCommerce – WPLoyalty 3K+ · 5.0★ (310) wp.org #3 4 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #9 ↑2 5 too low 5 Email Marketing for WordPress and WooCommerce – Retainful 600+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Live Shopping & Shoppable Videos For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform 1K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Conference Scheduler 300+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Email Customizer for WooCommerce – Spark Editor 200+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Popup and Widget Builder: Lead Capture, Exit Intent, Forms, Quizzes, Gamification 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 AI Search for WooCommerce — Semantic & Live Search 80+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Doobert Chatbot — · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 DesignO 10+ · 3.6★ (10) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Airwallex Online Payments Gateway 10K+ · 2.1★ (7) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Booking.com Official Search Box 2K+ · 2.4★ (8) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Admin Tour 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Clover Payments for WooCommerce 2K+ · 1.7★ (16) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Multi Currency Switcher for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 ImmoToolBox Connect 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too high 21 Knowband Mobile App Builder 10+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #21 22 Tansa 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 BotPenguin – Generative AI Chatbot with Live Chat & ChatGPT 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 VedicAstroAPI 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.