wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “medium migration”

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 “medium migration”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Blog Porter – Blog Migration Importer shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Cloudways WordPress Migrator 10K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #1 2

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1072) wp.org #7 4 too low 4

Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #14 7 too low 8

Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #13 5 too low 9

PowerPress Podcasting plugin by Blubrry 20K+ · 4.6★ (231) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #10 11

Yoco Payments 10K+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #11 ↑1 12

Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #12 ↓1 13

Source Medium Tracker for Contact Form 7 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #2 11 too high 14

NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15

Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #8 7 too high 16

BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17

Advanced Steam Widget 70+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18

Blog Porter – Blog Migration Importer 20+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #5 13 too high 19

BeyondSEO – AI SEO to Improve Rankings, Listings & Online Visibility 20K+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #18 1 too high 20

Returino – Formular de retur for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21

Siteskyline Content Importer for Medium — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 6 too high 22

MigrateMate – Bulk Content Migration, Import and Export 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 5 too high 23

ClickPress Migration 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24

RSS Chimp – Featured Images for RSS Feeds 400+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 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.