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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “new updates”

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 “new updates”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Disable Auto Update Emails and Block Updates for Plugins, WP Core, and Themes shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 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 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #1 2 Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #2 3 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #3 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 External Links in New Window / New Tab 30K+ · 4.5★ (77) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 WP Updates Notifier 20K+ · 4.2★ (35) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Disable Updates – Updates Manager, Disable Automatic Updates, Disable All Updates 9K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #23 ↓3 11 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too low 14 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 External Product New Tab for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (35) wp.org #14 ↓3 2 too high 17 Companion Auto Update 40K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 U Update Control 4K+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Disable WordPress Update Notifications and auto-update Email Notifications 10K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 Vertical News Scroller 5K+ · 4.3★ (17) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 WP Disables Updates 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 New Order Notification for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 Disable Auto Update Emails and Block Updates for Plugins, WP Core, and Themes 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓2 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.