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

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 “occasions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Pay What You Want shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #1 ↑3 2 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #15 ↑2 8 too low 8 WPC Smart Wishlist for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Gulf currencies Symbols for WooCommerce – رمز الريال السعودي والدرهم الإماراتي 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 Order Delivery Date And Time 1K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too high 11 NM Gift Registry and Wishlist Lite 200+ · 4.9★ (25) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13 Orderable – Restaurant & Food Ordering System 5K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 MyRewards 2K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 M MimeTypes Link Icons 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Flexible PDF Coupons – Gift Cards & Vouchers for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 GIFT4U – Gift Cards All in One for Woo 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 WCBoost – Wishlist 40K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too high 21 Pay What You Want 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Favicon Extender 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 WPC Free Gift Coupons for WooCommerce 400+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too high 24 Converzo Occasions voor Doorlinken Voorraad — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.