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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “note taking”

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 “note taking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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.

Ranked above its merit

Frontend User Notes shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 393 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #1 2 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Sequential Order Number for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.9★ (146) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 Noted! 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes 10K+ · 4.8★ (393) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #6 ↑3 4 too high 11 Gallery Lightbox 10K+ · 4.7★ (106) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #11 ↑5 1 too high 13 Preferred Languages 3K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #16 ↑4 2 too low 15 Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) 10K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 Frontend User Notes 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Mailgun for WordPress 80K+ · 3.8★ (49) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 EmailKit – Email Customizer for WooCommerce & WP 70K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) wp.org #19 ↓4 20 Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Asaas Gateway for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Quotes for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (61) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Backend Payments for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.