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

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 “nicename”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20. 2 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

Customers Table for WooCommerce: View, Search, Bulk Editor shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ 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 WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (641) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 W WP Author Slug 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Edit Author Slug 100K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #3 4 WP Twitter Auto Publish 3K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #4 5 WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Social Media Auto Publish 6K+ · 4.7★ (345) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WP to LinkedIn Auto Publish 900+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #7 8 Bulk Edit and Create User Profiles – WP Sheet Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #8 9 Authors List 5K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 SX User Name Security 900+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 JWT Auth – WordPress JSON Web Token Authentication 6K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 R Restrict Usernames Emails Characters 1K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 SlugMaster – Author Slug & Post Slug Customizer 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 WP Tumblr Auto Publish 60+ · 3.2★ (9) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 W WP247 Body Classes 200+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 E EnumGuard 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Banglish Slug Converter 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 Scheduled Posts Showcase 20+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Simple JWT Auth – JWT Authentication for WP REST API — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 Templementor – Persistent Elementor Templates 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 A Axismundi Media Library — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Mavrilo Connect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Customers Table for WooCommerce: View, Search, Bulk Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Contesimal Connector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.