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

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 “mixing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Audio Editor & Recorder shows at wp.org #5 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Reviews Plus 1K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Audio Comparison Lite 40+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Paid Videochat Turnkey Site – HTML5 PPV Live Webcams 10+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #22 16 too low 7 Vulnity Security 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 WPYog News 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Audio Editor & Recorder 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Cart Validation for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 EDZNET Honeypot & Timing Guard 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Category Combination Restrictions for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑6 1 too high 13 Bizzorder – Pre Order for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 Easy Shipping Rate for WooCommerce 20+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Pretty Grid – WordPress Images Gallery, Slider, and Carousel Plugin 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too high 16 CMLS – Customer Match List for Google Ads & Meta Ads 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Erriflow SEO Analytics — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 T The Studio Player — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Multi-Emails for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 CartRules One Shipping Class in Cart for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 StackVane Video Import for Divi — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 MiMe Simple Events and Calendar 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 SmartVP Video Player – MP4, YouTube & Vimeo — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Moksa for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.