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

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 “museums”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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.

Ranked above its merit

Retro Winamp Block shows at wp.org #5 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ 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

Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events places #7 on merit, 4.5★ from 292 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #1 2 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Tainacan 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Booking Activities 3K+ · 5.0★ (121) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events 2K+ · 4.5★ (292) wp.org #14 ↓3 7 too low 8 iPanorama 360 – Advanced Virtual Tour Builder 4K+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Panorama – Turn Photos into Immersive Virtual Tours 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 WP Inventory Manager 1K+ · 4.6★ (32) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Layouts for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 C Culture Object 40+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑8 2 too high 13 Chatbot for WordPress by Collect.chat ⚡️ 6K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Store Locator for WordPress📍 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Retro Winamp Block 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 10 too high 16 HappyVR – Virtual Tour Builder & 360 Panorama Viewer 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17 Bukza 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Herodotus – On This Day 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Easy Map – Store Locator, OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Mapbox 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Tainacan Support for Blocksy 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Edel Museum Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 Tainacan Extra View Modes 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Photo Sphere Viewer – 360° Virtual Tour, Panorama, 360 Video & AR 3D Viewer 600+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Ticket Spot – Event Tickets, RSVPs & Calendar 40+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #21 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.