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

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 “mix”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

BundleBoss – Product Bundles, Mix and Match & Build a Box for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 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 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2 Product Bundle Builder for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too low 5 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 YMC Filter 4K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #9 ↑9 2 too low 8 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #8 ↑9 9 Shariff Wrapper 30K+ · 4.9★ (101) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #18 ↓9 7 too low 12 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #3 ↓1 9 too high 13 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #17 ↓6 4 too low 14 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 WP Review Slider 6K+ · 4.8★ (181) wp.org #16 17 Product Video Gallery for Woocommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (97) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 TI WooCommerce Wishlist 100K+ · 4.7★ (503) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Flow-Flow Social Streams 7K+ · 3.3★ (100) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248) wp.org #20 21 Advanced iFrame 40K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 D Database Collation Fix 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #24 ↓4 2 too low 23 SKT Templates – 100% Free Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 BundleBoss – Product Bundles, Mix and Match & Build a Box for WooCommerce 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 17 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.