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← Rankings

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

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

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ 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.

Buried gem

Simple Custom Post Order places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 588 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178) wp.org #4 5 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #5 6 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 WP-UserOnline 10K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Easy Booking – WooCommerce Booking & Reservation Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Simple SEO 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 WP-PostViews 90K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #16 ↓4 3 too low 14 Disk Usage Sunburst 9K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 Lenix Leads Collector 10K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Logo Manager For Enamad – لوگوی نماد الکترونیکی 5K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Custom Background Changer 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19 Export Single Post Page 3K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 14 too high 21 Export Customers Data 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 AL Pack 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Admin Robots.txt Editor 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 CSP Friendly Security 200+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.