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

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 view count”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Page Visits Counter – Lite shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2617 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #3 ↑4 1 too low 3 Page View Count 10K+ · 4.0★ (55) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #10 ↑4 5 too low 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Post View Count 4K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #14 ↓6 3 too low 12 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #12 13 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode Page & Under Construction 10K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 Grid/List View for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.4★ (50) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓1 10 too high 17 B bbP topic count 300+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Wp Post Views – WordPress Post views counter 4K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Init View Count – AI-Powered, Trending, REST API 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too high 22 Count Characters, Words and Paragraphs while typing 300+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #22 23 Direct Checkout – Quick View – Buy Now For WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓7 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.