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

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 “merchandising”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 5 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

Wolfcourt Merchandising Suite shows at wp.org #8 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Search, Filters & Merchandising for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #1 2 DOOFINDER Search and Discovery for WP & WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (127) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Smart Search & Product Filter for WooCommerce – Searchanise 900+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Country Based Restrictions for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (52) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 NOWPayments for WooCommerce – Crypto Payment Gateway 3K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 WP Fastest Site Search 100+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Automatic Product Categories for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too high 9 Smart Product Sort 30+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 Mori AI Search 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Logicfire Wishlist & Registry for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 Wolfcourt Merchandising Suite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 AskAgento | AI Search, Image Search & Chatbot for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓2 8 too low 14 Per Category Product Ordering 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too high 15 ManageX – Pre-Orders, Product Badges, Buy Now, Quick View, Advanced Cart and More for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Athena Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Rooster One 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 SwiftSearch for Algolia — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too high 19 Fullmetrix Reporting, Analytics & Marketing for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Snap Marketing 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 StoreBolt – Advanced Search for WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 LeoSearch – AI Search & Shopping Assistant for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 FXOapps Instant Search for Woocommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Convertopia Smart Search — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.