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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “move comments”

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 “move comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Comments Shield – Disable Comments & Stop Spam, Bulk Delete & Remove Comments shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 50+ 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

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 418 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #5 ↑10 1 too low 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #20 ↑1 10 too low 11 Comments – GraphComment | AI-Moderated Comment System 400+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too high 12 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 No Page Comment 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Blogger Importer Extended 4K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Vuukle – Comments, Reactions, Quizzes, Share Bar & Ad Revenue 200+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #19 ↑5 1 too low 19 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 One Click Close Comments 5K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 WP Comment Humility 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 S Safe Report Comments 100+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 Comments Shield – Disable Comments & Stop Spam, Bulk Delete & Remove Comments 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑2 17 too high 24 EZ Anti-Spam Comments with reCAPTCHA 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.