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

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 “mad”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

ingenidev, Morocco – MAD Currency Symbol Changer | مغير رمز عملة الدرهم المغربي shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #4 ↑4 1 too low 4 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Bulk NoIndex & NoFollow Toolkit 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Affiliates Manager 8K+ · 4.1★ (61) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Quiz Cat – WordPress Quiz Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Giveaways and Contests by RafflePress – Get More Website Traffic, Email Subscribers, and Social Followers 20K+ · 3.9★ (43) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Admin Management Xtended 5K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #10 11 Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) 9K+ · 4.6★ (244) wp.org #22 ↑1 11 too low 12 Newsletter Subscription Form – User Subscriptions Form, Capture Email 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #12 13 Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Contact Form Plugin 2K+ · 2.8★ (17) wp.org #7 ↓2 7 too high 15 Easy Notify Lite 300+ · 3.3★ (18) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Landing Page Cat – Coming Soon & Maintenance Pages 600+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Flutterwave Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 ingenidev, Morocco – MAD Currency Symbol Changer | مغير رمز عملة الدرهم المغربي 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓1 13 too high 19 Mad Cow Owner Update Notifications for MainWP 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓3 10 too high 20 Mad Cow Customizer for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 MAD Event Mailer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 MAD CAT Design® Tools — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 MAD CAT Design® Forms Protection — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Mad Cow Product Tabs for WooCommerce — · 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.