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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “nice permalink”

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 “nice permalink”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.

W

Ranked above its merit

WP Print Friendly shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 151 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #1 2 Cyrlitera – Transliteration of Links and File Names 40K+ · 4.6★ (62) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP-DownloadManager 3K+ · 4.0★ (37) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Rename Media Files: Improve Your SEO 8K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Include Mastodon Feed 800+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Product Labels For Woocommerce (Sale Badges) 10K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Pretty Search Permalinks 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↑1 5 too high 11 WP OAuth Server (OAuth Authentication) 3K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 C Cornerstone 20K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #6 ↓1 6 too high 13 System Dashboard 900+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 MediaPress 3K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 SimplyRETS Real Estate IDX 200+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Chessgame Shizzle 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Wiremo – Product Reviews for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #19 20 StoreBuild – Online Store Builder for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Flexible Wishlist for WooCommerce – Ecommerce Wishlist & Save for later 700+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 N2H Nice to Have — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 W WP Print Friendly 500+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 Helpdesk Support Ticket System for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.