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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “modification time”

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

Order Delivery Date Time & Pickup for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

W3 Total Cache places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 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 Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #1 2 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #2 3 WP Time Slots Booking Form 1K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #3 4 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #6 ↑6 1 too low 6 Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too low 8 WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #12 ↓5 4 too low 9 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #11 ↑4 1 too low 11 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Cachebuster 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #21 ↓3 6 too low 16 Project Manager – AI Powered Project Management, Task Management, Kanban Board & Time Tracker 5K+ · 3.8★ (187) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 too low 17 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #17 ↑5 1 too high 19 WPSSO WP Sitemaps XML with News, Image, and Video Sitemap 400+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #7 ↑1 12 too high 20 WC – APG Weight Shipping 6K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #24 ↓4 4 too low 21 Booking Package 10K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Time Lord 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Order Delivery Date Time & Pickup for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 15 too high 24 Disable CSS JS Cache 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.