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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page notes”

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 “page notes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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.

P

Ranked above its merit

Page Optimize shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #9 ↓4 4 too low 6 Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 Page & Post Notes 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #19 ↓1 10 too low 10 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too high 11 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #12 13 Admin Page Notes 700+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #5 ↑1 8 too high 14 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #24 ↓4 9 too low 16 User Notes 800+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 Sticky Notes for WP Dashboard 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Product Notes Tab & Private Admin Notes for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Customer Notes for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 P Page Optimize 200K+ · 3.0★ (5) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 WPC Order Notes for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.3★ (3) 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.