Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “ordering”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

FoodBook Lite – Online Food Ordering System shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 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

Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 498 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 Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #1 2 WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Food Ordering & Table Booking System 5K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 RestroPress – Online Food Ordering System 1K+ · 4.4★ (102) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Orderable – Restaurant & Food Ordering System 5K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 Restaurant Menu – Food Ordering System – Table Reservation 7K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #17 18 WPPizza – A Restaurant Plugin 900+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) wp.org #21 ↑3 1 too low 21 RestroFood Lite – Online Food Ordering and Restaurant Management Plugin For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 FoodBook Lite – Online Food Ordering System 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 Flipdish Ordering System 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 DineKit – Restaurant Menu, Online Ordering, Table Reservations & POS 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 4 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.