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

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 “metal”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Neon Channel Product Customizer Free shows at wp.org #14 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 40+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Gold Price Based on Weight 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Precious Metals Product Prices for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 3 MetalpriceAPI 500+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 3DPrint Lite 600+ · 4.8★ (37) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Currency Converter Calculator 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 ITS Jewellery Price Plugin 20+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Exchange Rates Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 Cryptocurrency Product for WooCommerce 20+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 Dynamic Metal Price Calculator 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 Scry Search: Meilisearch for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑1 9 too low 11 FooSales – Point of Sale (POS) for WooCommerce 600+ · 3.2★ (13) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Sign Customiser 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Precious Metals Charts and Widgets for WordPress 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 MetalflowAPI — Live Precious Metals Prices 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Gold Price Live – Gold & Silver Prices, Charts, Widgets, Melt Value Calculator 200+ · 2.5★ (8) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Rameshc Metal Price Manager for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Vyntic Metal Sync – Live Metal Rates for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Veyondtech Metal Rate Charts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Metal Sentinel Price Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 Keyideas Jewelry Filter & Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Neon Channel Product Customizer Free 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑2 7 too high 22 Gyta Buyback | WooCommerce Product Trade-In and Buy Back System 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 23 Fast Post Lists 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 Kinescope 200+ · 2.3★ (3) 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.