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

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 “orderby”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Essential Content Types shows at wp.org #6 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 79 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #1 2 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Extra Product Sorting Options for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #8 ↑5 2 too low 7 Advanced Queries 10K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Intuitive Custom Post Order 400K+ · 4.4★ (139) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 L Listo 7K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 CC Child Pages 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 WP Blog Post Layouts 9K+ · 4.7★ (83) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 WP Sort Order 6K+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 Latest Post Shortcode 4K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑2 11 too high 18 Free WooCommerce Products Slider/Carousel Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 D Display HTML Sitemap 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 List Child Pages Shortcode 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 A AffiliateWP – Leaderboard 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓7 9 too high 24 WP Sitemap Pages and Posts 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.