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

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 “mariadb”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Index WP Users For Speed shows at wp.org #9 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 10 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

Booking Activities places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 121 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP phpMyAdmin 40K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #3 ↑9 4 WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #7 ↑6 2 too low 6 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 SQLite Object Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Database Manager – WP Adminer 20K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 Booking Activities 3K+ · 5.0★ (121) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #12 ↓4 13 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Plugin Compatibility Checker 9K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110) wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 WP Database Reset 5K+ · 4.5★ (68) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 S SQLite Database Integration 5K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too high 18 SpinupWP 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Index WP Users For Speed 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓4 10 too high 20 Easy Actions Scheduler Cleaner 900+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Relevanssi Light 600+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Alt Text Generator AI – Auto Generate Alt Texts with AltPilot 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Mega Cache 50+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Plugin Memory Usage 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 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.