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← Rankings

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

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 “observability”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Device Detector shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 DecaLog 1K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 APCu Manager 10K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 OPcache Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 5 Sessions 900+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 oEmbed Manager 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 7 MCP Adapter 60K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Apache Status & Info 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Vibes 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 MailArchiver 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 KloudStack Observability for Azure 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Vercel AI Gateway Provider 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 13 SlyMetrics 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 IP Locator 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 WPMissionControl 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 16 Scrutoscope – WordPress Performance Profiler 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too low 17 Shim MCP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18 MCP Tracker 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 ServicePress Connector Core 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 DebugBundle — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Traffic 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 HookTrace – Trace Hooks with Precision — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 MCP Content Manager Lite 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Device Detector 500+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #13 11 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.