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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “negative marking”

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 “negative marking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Libration Accessibility Widget, Checker and Real Code Fixes – WCAG and EAA shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20+ 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

Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 339 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #1 2 Flexible Product Fields (WooCommerce Product Addons) – WooCommerce Product Page Editor 10K+ · 4.5★ (106) wp.org #2 3 Booking Calendar Contact Form 500+ · 3.6★ (32) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #13 ↓3 9 too low 5 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #19 ↓1 14 too low 6 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 Acadlix LMS – AI Quiz Maker, Online Exam & Course Plugin for WordPress 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 ElasticPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 Yatra – Travel Booking & Tour Operator Software 600+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #22 ↓1 11 too low 12 The Innovative Form Builder – IvyForms 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 HEXAM — Quiz & Exam Builder 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 10 too high 14 {eac}ObjectCache – a persistent object cache using SQLite & APCu to cache WordPress objects. 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Quiz Builder by WiVi – Online Exam & Quiz Maker 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 YayReviews – Advanced Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 Turgor Exam Engine — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 10 too high 18 DominoForm – Advanced Contact Form, Polls, Survey & Quiz Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Libration Accessibility Widget, Checker and Real Code Fixes – WCAG and EAA 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 ShareCrew — Creator Profit-Share for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 FormGhost — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 Toofast Catalog Connect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 WWB SEO Master – WordPress SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Link Extension for XFN — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.