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

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 “paging”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 4 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

WPC Order Notes for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades places #6 on merit, 4.6★ from 572 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #1 2 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #2 3 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Product Customer List for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.9★ (75) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #17 12 too low 6 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #19 13 too low 7 OnSale Page for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 WP-DownloadManager 3K+ · 4.0★ (37) wp.org #9 10 NGG Smart Image Search 400+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 FV Top Level Categories 20K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 WPSyncSheets For WooCommerce – Import & Export Orders, Products, Customers & Coupons to Google Sheets in Real-Time 700+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 WP-CommentNavi 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 WPC Order Notes for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 Back and Forward Button 200+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Weaver Show Sliders 900+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Data Tables – present your data in clean, customizable tables 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Featured Image Pro Post Grid 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) wp.org #21 22 Blogroll & Podroll Block 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Simplistic page navi 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too high 24 Spotler Mail+ Forms 300+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.