Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “name”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Change Default Email Sender Name shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 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 Name Directory 2K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WPC Name Your Price for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Cyrlitera – Transliteration of Links and File Names 40K+ · 4.6★ (62) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Force First and Last Name as Display Name 2K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #12 ↓3 7 too low 6 ( (Simply) Guest Author Name 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #21 ↓4 14 too low 8 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #18 ↑6 10 too low 9 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #22 ↓4 13 too low 10 Show Current Template 100K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 Cyr to Lat Reloaded – Transliteration of Links and File Names 30K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 Smart Custom Display Name 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Username Changer 40K+ · 4.3★ (77) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too low 16 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too low 17 Rename WP Media Files Name 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 Change Sender Email – From Name and From Address 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 Name Your Price: Make Your Own Offer for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 M month name translation benaceur 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓4 4 too high 21 ELEX WooCommerce Name Your Price 500+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 M MCM Random Baby Name Generator 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Auto Capitalize & UPPERCASE Names and Addresses 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 24 Change Default Email Sender Name 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 14 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.