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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “neural network”

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 “neural network”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Speaker Lite shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Multilang – Translation and Multilingual Plugin places #5 on merit, 4.3★ from 100 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 AI WP Writer – SEO content generator, chatGPT, Gemini, Claude 3K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #3 4 Related Posts Neural Network 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 WP Multilang – Translation and Multilingual Plugin 10K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #23 ↑1 18 too low 6 AI Image Generator – Easy image creation with AI 100+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too low 7 Accessibility Assistant – Readabler 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Listen2It – Text-to-speech audio article 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 Capsquery Facial Authentication 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 11 too low 10 CanvaMotion for Elementor 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 WTranslator 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Altonet Animated BG 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 PerfLocale — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too low 14 Speechable 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 OneClickAI Site Optimizer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Automatic Multilingual AI Translation by Autoglot 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Speaker Lite 30+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Milyutin Code Article Reposter for VK — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 Chitta Behavioral AI Chatbot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 ChatGPT & Gemini para WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Locktura Security 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 ImgChanger — AI Image Replacement — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Nexora Engine — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 WGRank Translate – Fast & Indexable Multilingual Translation — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 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.