wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “long title”
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 “long title”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Stylish Scrolling Title shows at wp.org #1 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 100+ 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
Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #3 2 too low 2 
Title Limit for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #2 3 
WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #6 2 too low 5 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #9 ↑2 3 too low 7 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too low 8 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 
The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
Longer Permalinks 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244)
wp.org #17 6 too low 12 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #14 ↑7 2 too low 13 
Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026)
wp.org #19 6 too low 14 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 
Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221)
wp.org #13 2 too high 16 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #21 ↓9 5 too low 17 
Multi Step for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.7★ (77)
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↓1 11 too high 19 Stylish Scrolling Title 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #1 18 too high 20 
Cyr to Lat Enhanced 80K+ · 4.6★ (51)
wp.org #24 ↓4 4 too low 21 
EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44)
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓13 2 too high 23 
Eventward 400+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 
Testimonial Carousel For Elementor 10K+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓5 1 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.