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← Rankings

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

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 “owl”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 of the top 20. 6 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

Secure Owl Firewall shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ 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

Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 87 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Team Members – Multi Language Supported Team Plugin 6K+ · 5.0★ (85) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included 40K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Custom Post Carousels with Owl 2K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Responsive Owl Carousel for Elementor 7K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Random Banner 1K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #17 ↑2 8 too low 10 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 BWD Elementor Addons 400+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Owl Carousel WP 1K+ · 3.1★ (14) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 R Rockon Owl Slider 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 9 too high 15 Grey Owl Lightbox 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 YeeMail — Email Template Builder & Customizer 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Logo Slider Carousel – Responsive Client Showcase 100+ · 3.3★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Secure Owl Firewall 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓3 11 too high 19 Team Builder Member Showcase 1K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Owl Security 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Carousel, Recent Post Slider and Banner Slider 7K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 UltraAddons for Elementor 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Digital Product Showcase – Slider for Easy Digital Downloads 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Service Box Slider 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 10 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.