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

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 “normalization”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Ujweblapot.hu – Online Elállás for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 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 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #1 2 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 تقویم فارسی – Persian Calendar 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WC – APG SMS Notifications 300+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Block Referer Spam 500+ · 3.4★ (21) wp.org #5 6 Layout Recompiler for Brizy 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Bizzmags Marketplace 20+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓1 10 too low 8 Freight Integration for Woocommerce to Profrakt and Logistra by WildRobot 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 CodingBunny LLMs.txt Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 AISignal Markdown Converter 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 OrphanPages – Internal Link Audit, Orphaned Pages, Broken Links & SEO Content Structure Analyzer 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 12 Ujweblapot.hu – Online Elállás for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 WXD Backup Lite — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 Shulman UTM Attribution for Elementor 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 AudioLinter – Podcast Loudness Check & Audio Normalization — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 morkva NovaPay 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 VIESAC – Free VAT Validation for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 KaliCart Bridge – Agentic Commerce Catalog, ChatGPT Product Feed & MCP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Redirection Manager 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Arabic Search Enhancement — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Chatwoot Client Portal by ICT Shift 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Idun Simple Upload Renamer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 ProbonoSEO Basic — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 MiraQlum Image Optimizer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.