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

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 “macros”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Migrate away from FooGallery shows at wp.org #4 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Metronet Tag Manager 20K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Stock Ticker 2K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #23 ↓1 18 too low 6 Taskbuilder – Project Management & Task Management Tool With Kanban Board 700+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 CDI – Collect and Deliver Interface for Woocommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Lime Connect (formerly Userlike) – WordPress Live Chat plugin 800+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 Posts per Cat 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Migrate away from FooGallery 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 7 too high 12 Diet Calorie Calculator 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 HelpDesk.com Contact Form 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Richpanel – Customer Support Helpdesk & Chat 100+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 R Rocket Media Library Mime Type 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Dynamic Fields Engine – Custom post types, Custom fields, Meta fields, Taxonomies, Listing builder, Query builder and Relations 3K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Keto Macro Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 Migrate away from NextGEN Gallery 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 AI Data Generator with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Nano Banana 2, Ollama and LM Studio for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 M Macro Tech Titan AI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Ultimate Integration for Telegram 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Glyphwell – Visual Equation Editor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Solid Dynamics 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.