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

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 “outage”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Vercel AI Gateway Provider shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ 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

Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 1233 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 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233) wp.org #16 ↓2 11 too low 6 Planned Outage for Block Themes 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 Advanced Steam Widget 70+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Labinator Minimal Maintenance Mode 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Embedder for Google Reviews 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 Polski for WooCommerce 60+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓4 8 too low 13 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑4 6 too low 14 Uptime Monitoring for WordPress – My Website is Online 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Secure Encrypted Form 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Hitsteps Web Analytics 700+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Vercel AI Gateway Provider 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 EZ Coming Soon 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too high 19 Magic API Email 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 Custom SMTP: Email Deliverability – FREE & Easy-to-use 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 Banner Alerts 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 Octanist 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 USPS Shipping for WooCommerce – Live Rates 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓4 1 too low 24 Pixelavo – Server Side Tracking & Pixel + AI Ads Tools 2K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.