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

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 “mac”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

BEA – Sanitize Filename shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Real Media Library: Media Library Folder & File Manager places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 297 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #1 2 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #2 3 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Tawk.To Live Chat 100K+ · 4.6★ (142) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too low 7 WCPOS – Point of Sale (POS) plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.7★ (84) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too high 8 WP Console – WordPress PHP Console powered by PsySH 20K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Chatra Live Chat + ChatBot + Cart Saver 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 Real Media Library: Media Library Folder & File Manager 100K+ · 4.8★ (297) wp.org #18 ↓5 8 too low 11 Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 B BSK PDF Manager 7K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) wp.org #22 ↓3 9 too low 14 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Optimus – WordPress Image Optimizer 30K+ · 4.2★ (69) wp.org #21 ↓4 6 too low 16 Change Text Case 1K+ · 4.8★ (21) wp.org #16 ↓4 17 Simple Login Notification 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too high 18 Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too low 19 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 BEA – Sanitize Filename 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 too high 22 Real Category Management: Content Management in Category Folders 2K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 Order Export for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.8★ (14) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 Nexi XPay 7K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.