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

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 “narrative”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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

HTML Forms & Contact Form for WordPress: Narrative Forms shows at wp.org #2 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 30+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Web Stories 60K+ · 4.2★ (87) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 Music Store – WordPress eCommerce 200+ · 4.1★ (52) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Narrative Publisher 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 WPSummarize – AI Summaries with key takeaways for your posts 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 MMWW 200+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 HTML Forms & Contact Form for WordPress: Narrative Forms 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 Timeline – Tell Your Story Through Events and Milestones 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 Dear Timeline (Best Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑7 4 too low 12 AI + Block Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 SecurynAI – Security, Firewall, Malware Scan, and Vulnerability Alerts 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 NarraFirma 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 QuickPress AI 10+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Photo Collage 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Iris Theme Kit 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too low 18 Mapthread 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 Weather Write 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 AlitaYoko Conversations 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 GW Elementor Addons 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 Mochyon Pulse 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 Adventurebook 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 CatalogIt Collections Publisher 30+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 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.