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

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 “moderate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Never Moderate Registered Users shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 716 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #1 2 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #2 3 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #3 4 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #11 ↑5 7 too low 5 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9 Yotpo Product Reviews 2K+ · 4.5★ (192) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #19 ↑2 8 too low 12 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Juicer.io: Effortlessly embed, curate, and aggregate social media feeds into your website 8K+ · 4.2★ (29) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑3 3 too high 16 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #16 ↑3 2 too high 19 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #22 ↑2 3 too low 20 Feeds for TikTok (TikTok feed, video, and gallery plugin) 70K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too high 21 Never Moderate Registered Users 20+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 ImagePress – Front-End Photo Uploads & Member Galleries 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 pipDisqus – Lightweight Disqus Comments 200+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 WP Comment Notification 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 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.