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

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 “moods”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

L

Ranked above its merit

LJ-Moods shows at wp.org #3 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPFunnels – Funnel Builder for WooCommerce with Checkout & One Click Upsell places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 175 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #1 2 TS Poll – Survey, Versus Poll, Image Poll, Video Poll 3K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 WPC Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 WPFunnels – Funnel Builder for WooCommerce with Checkout & One Click Upsell 5K+ · 4.9★ (175) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Youzify – BuddyPress Community, User Profile, Social Network & Membership Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Portfolio – Filterable Masonry Portfolio Gallery for Professionals 200+ · 4.1★ (14) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Christmas Snow 3D – Snowfalling, Snowflake Effect and Christmas mood 100+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Minifly – Site Enhancement, White Label and Custom Dashboard Solution 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Product Time Countdown for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 L LJ-Moods 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 T Themify Audio Dock 900+ · 3.5★ (6) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 AI Search for WooCommerce — Semantic & Live Search 80+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 15 Giuliomax Menu Builder 20+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Vunelix Financial Widgets – Cryptocurrency, Stock Ticker & Forex 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Content Mood Analyzer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Touching Comments 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 ReadJoy – Progress Bar with Celebrations — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Pendid AI Studio — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 ATV Product Reviews for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Economicium Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Inbox AI — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Moody Weather 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.