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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mu plugin”

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 “mu plugin”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

Logged-in-only shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1233 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1661) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Mu Manager – Manage mu-plugins like standard plugins 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1556) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Plugin Load Filter 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #6 7 WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1012) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Disable All WordPress Updates 10K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Admin CSS MU 10K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 WP fail2ban – Advanced Security 60K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 WPS Limit Login 100K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Native PHP Sessions 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 WP REST Cache 10K+ · 4.9★ (42) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 L Logged-in-only 700+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Vendi Abandoned Plugin Check 1K+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 1K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) 100K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 Cincopa video and media plug-in 1K+ · 2.8★ (26) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 WP Anything Downloader 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too high 24 atec Profiler 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.