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

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 “mailster”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 of the top 20. 6 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

Mailster Gmail Integration shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 322 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 Mailster WordPress Newsletter Plugin 7K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #1 ↑8 2 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #10 ↓6 8 too low 3 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #13 ↓8 10 too low 4 WP Mailster 300+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #7 ↓6 3 too low 5 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #17 ↓7 12 too low 6 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #19 ↓12 13 too low 7 Mailster AmazonSES Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 ↑1 5 too high 8 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #23 ↓5 15 too low 9 Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #20 ↓8 11 too low 10 Mailster for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.8★ (8) wp.org #4 ↑4 6 too high 11 Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #16 ↓5 5 too low 12 Mailster Gravity Forms 800+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #6 ↑13 6 too high 13 Mailster Contact Form 7 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓7 4 too high 14 Integrate Elementor Form With Mailster 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓9 1 too low 15 Mailster SendGrid Integration 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑11 12 too high 16 Mailster Google Analytics 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑10 11 too high 17 ZeroBounce Email Verification & Validation 900+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓8 4 too low 18 Mailster Cool Captcha 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Mailster Matomo 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Mailster reCaptcha 1K+ · 2.0★ (4) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Mailster SparkPost Integration 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑8 7 too high 22 Mailster Kickbox 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Mailster Dummy Mailer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Mailster Gmail Integration 1K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.