wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “notification attachments”
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 “notification attachments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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
forumAttachments for bbPress shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 26 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Notification Attachments for Gravity Forms 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #1 2 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 
Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #11 ↑2 5 too low 7 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 2 too low 9 
Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491)
wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 
Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↑1 8 too high 11 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 
Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) heavy footprint
wp.org #12 13 
OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #15 ↑1 16 forumAttachments for bbPress 6K+ · 4.3★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↓1 11 too high 17 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #19 2 too low 18 
Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142)
wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 
Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302)
wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too high 23 
Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 
Pingo Notify – Automation & Notification Chat Messages 300+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #22 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.