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

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 “moon”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Halloween Countdown Widget shows at wp.org #19 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #1 2 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 iCalendrier 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WC Vendors – WooCommerce Multivendor, WooCommerce Marketplace, Product Vendors 3K+ · 4.5★ (188) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 EZ Horoscope Professional 300+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Celestial Lunar Phase Widget 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 XTX Integration for Netatmo 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Moon Static HTML Pages 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 Arianne G Esotools 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Onyx Dark Mode Switcher 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Xllentech English Islamic Calendar 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 AstroWay – Astrology, Birth Chart & Horoscope Widgets 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 VedicAstroAPI 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Wow Sliders Addons for Elementor 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Easy Dark Theme for Astra 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 A Astrology Suite for FreeAstroAPI 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 SunnyTracker Widgets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Sezgi Astrology Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Spelhubben Weather 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 Galaktion Tabidze — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 4WP Style Switcher — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Halloween Countdown Widget 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.