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

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 “matches”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Super Cache places #12 on merit, 4.3★ from 1346 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419) wp.org #1 2 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #2 3 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #3 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #4 5 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #5 6 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #8 9 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too low 11 Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #15 ↓5 4 too low 12 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 M Media Search Enhanced 5K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Football Pool 900+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 WP Content Copy Protection with Color Design 5K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too high 16 WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too low 17 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 Image Aspect Ratio Crop Field for Advanced Custom Fields 20K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 AnWP Football Leagues 700+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 B Bulglish Permalinks 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 CyberPress 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too high 22 Enable Responsive Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More 20K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 ProScores – Live Scores 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.