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← Rankings

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

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 “msn”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 8 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

MSN Partner Hub shows at wp.org #1 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 22 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Pixel Tag Manager for WooCommerce – Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, and More Pixels 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Zendesk Chat 10K+ · 4.0★ (27) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 TechGasp Talk Master 60+ · 3.1★ (10) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 LeadSource – UTM Tracking & Lead Source Attribution for Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Custom Newsletter Template 10+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 AI Rights Protection by SimpleFeed — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Openpay Cards Plugin 3K+ · 2.0★ (12) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 GDPR Notice 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 X Xmail – The Right Way 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 block-wpscan 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 LLM Bot Tracker – AI Crawler Detection & Analytics 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 S Shari Share Me — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Where Am I 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 S SEO Advance Plugin — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 C Chat messenger & toolbar 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Show weather get msn.com 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Smart WordPress SEO 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 K Karailiev's sitemap 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 MSN Partner Hub 1K+ · 2.0★ (2) wp.org #1 22 too high 24 I Invite Friends — · 2.0★ (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.