Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “nutrition”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

Tasty Recipes Lite – WordPress Recipe Card Plugin with Built-In Recipe Schema shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ReferralCandy for WooCommerce – Advanced Referral & Affiliate Program places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 211 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Cooked – Recipe Management 3K+ · 3.9★ (90) wp.org #3 4 Recipe Card Blocks Lite 10K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #4 5 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6 ReferralCandy for WooCommerce – Advanced Referral & Affiliate Program 300+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 WP Delicious – Recipe Plugin for Food Bloggers (formerly Delicious Recipes) 4K+ · 4.9★ (71) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Quiz Builder for WooCommerce – Product Recommendations 2K+ · 5.0★ (102) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 WP Calorie Calculator 900+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #19 ↓3 8 too low 12 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Tasty Recipes Lite – WordPress Recipe Card Plugin with Built-In Recipe Schema 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 too high 14 Polski for WooCommerce 60+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓3 6 too low 15 BMI Adult & Kid Calculator 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Calorie Calculator 100+ · 3.4★ (10) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Flavor – Restaurant Menu & Table Reservations 90+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 RestroFood Lite – Online Food Ordering and Restaurant Management Plugin For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Scrollchart 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Scrumptious – Recipe Cards 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Nutrition Info for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Boma Pet Nutrition Pro — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓5 1 too low 23 Food Info Nutrition Labels — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓5 1 too low 24 Calculate BMR and BMI 200+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.