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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “non clickable”

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 “non clickable”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

DesignSetGo shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 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 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #1 2 Kaya QR Code Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #2 3 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #6 ↑3 3 too low 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #7 ↑4 3 too low 5 D Dropdown Multisite Selector 900+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Print, PDF & Email by PrintFriendly 20K+ · 3.8★ (237) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #13 ↓7 6 too low 8 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #15 ↑5 7 too low 9 Tiered Pricing Table for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (104) wp.org #8 ↓3 1 too high 10 StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (56) wp.org #10 ↑2 11 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 WP Call Button – Easy Click to Call Button for WordPress 40K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #14 ↓4 2 too low 13 Addon Elementor Container Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too high 15 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #19 ↓12 4 too low 16 Mapster WP Maps 3K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #20 ↑2 4 too low 17 MapSVG – Vector maps, Image maps, Google Maps 1K+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 Product Options and Price Calculation Formulas for WooCommerce – Uni CPO 1K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #21 ↓5 3 too low 19 Shoppable Images (Lookbook) for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #12 ↓4 7 too high 20 BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑5 12 too high 22 DC Login Designer 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 Uplink Admin Menu Manager 50+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 Japan Clickable Map 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.