Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “minor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

WooCommerce Shipping shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Companion Auto Update places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 105 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W WP Auto Updater 7K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #1 2 Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1815) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Video Conferencing with Zoom 10K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Companion Auto Update 40K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Grids: Layout builder for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 B Bulglish Permalinks 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Quill Forms | Conversational Multi Step Forms, Surveys & quizzes 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Disable Updates – Updates Manager, Disable Automatic Updates, Disable All Updates 9K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 Travelers' Map 1K+ · 5.0★ (46) wp.org #19 ↓7 7 too low 13 Demo Importer Plus 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 11 too high 14 Customize Feeds for Twitter 4K+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 WPGraphQL Smart Cache 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 Module Control for Jetpack 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 WP Flashy Marketing Automation 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 13 too high 19 Taggbox: Social Media Feed Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 WooCommerce Shipping 70K+ · 2.0★ (18) wp.org #4 ↓1 16 too high 21 WP Disables Updates 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 LottieFiles 7K+ · 2.3★ (18) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 kanenas — Minor/Patch Auto-Updates 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 WPGraphQL for ACF 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.