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

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 “mo”, we agree with wp.org 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

VietQR shows at wp.org #5 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Query Monitor places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #1 2 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #2 3 Performant Translations 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #3 4 Gallery Lightbox 10K+ · 4.7★ (106) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too low 6 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Simple Login Log 5K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 PDF & Print by BestWebSoft – WordPress Posts and Pages PDF Generator Plugin 9K+ · 3.9★ (102) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Watu Quiz 3K+ · 4.7★ (137) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Chained Quiz 1K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too high 13 Easy Image Gallery 4K+ · 4.6★ (41) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Lazy Load for Videos 9K+ · 4.4★ (105) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 VietQR 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 Multilanguage by BestWebSoft – WordPress Translation Plugin and Language Switcher 3K+ · 3.8★ (92) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 WP WooCommerce Mailchimp 5K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Debug MO Translations 10+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #18 ↓3 19 Error Log Viewer by BestWebSoft 5K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓4 4 too high 20 YITH WooCommerce Product Gallery & Image Zoom 10K+ · 3.6★ (71) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓6 2 too low 22 Contact Form to DB by BestWebSoft – Messages Database Plugin For WordPress 1K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 YITH WooCommerce Product Bundles 3K+ · 3.2★ (24) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Image & Video XML Sitemap 300+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.