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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mobile detection”

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 “mobile detection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Mobile Smart App Banner shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 300+ 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 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 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Specific Content For Mobile – Customize the mobile version without redirections 4K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #12 ↓3 6 too low 7 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #18 ↑4 9 too low 10 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #19 ↑2 7 too low 13 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 ShiftNav – Responsive Mobile Menu 10K+ · 4.6★ (68) wp.org #14 ↓4 1 too high 16 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #6 ↑1 10 too high 17 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #22 ↑2 5 too low 18 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #20 ↓5 2 too low 19 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #8 ↑5 11 too high 20 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 Direct Payments for WooCommerce – Bank Transfer, Mobile Money, Crypto and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payments 800+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Disable Browser Telephone Format Detection 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓2 14 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.