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

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 “mainwp”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 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

MainWP Key Maker shows at wp.org #4 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 1038 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2350) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1549) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Post SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (525) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1038) wp.org #21 15 too low 7 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 80K+ · 4.8★ (79) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (177) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 WPvivid Backup for MainWP 10K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (100) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 MainWP Child Reports 100K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization 10K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 MainWP Key Maker 4K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 Post to Google My Business (Google Business Profile) 10K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 WP Compress for MainWP 500+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Security Ninja For MainWP 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 MainWP Post SMTP Extension – Easily Manage WP SMTP Setup for All Sites in One Place 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Update Brief for MainWP 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Site Lockdown Security for MainWP 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 Burst MainWP 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 SEOPress for MainWP 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 Mad Cow Owner Update Notifications for MainWP 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Ticket Status Sync for FluentSupport to MainWP 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 WebChange Detector for MainWP 30+ · 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.