Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “notepad”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Plug-N-Meet web conference integration shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Multiple Themes places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 50 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 Paste As Plain Text By Default 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #1 2 Dashboard To-Do List 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 3 AdminPad 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Frontend User Notes 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Multiple Themes 10K+ · 4.7★ (50) wp.org #23 ↓2 18 too low 6 Git it Write – Write posts from GitHub 100+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Easy YouTube Gallery 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Personal Dictionary – Vocabulary Games, Memory Games 70+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 C Copy/Paste FlexContent Blocks for ACF 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 WP Notepad 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 ↓1 6 too high 11 Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons 3K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓2 10 too low 12 Alex Player 200+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13 User Notepad 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Advanced editor for Additional CSS — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 Image Alt URL Report — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Notetaker – Sidebar Notes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Pi SheetBridge for Woo order with Google Sheets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Cubecolour Caboodle — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 SanBar EXPress Catalog Hub — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 PureDevs Customer History for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too high 21 Plug-N-Meet web conference integration 100+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Accordion Block Lite 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 SimpleSocial 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 WoPo Notepad 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 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.