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

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 “painting”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

AllTerrain Photo Editor – Crop, Resize, Paint & Photo Filters shows at wp.org #7 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 File Uploads Addon for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.7★ (27) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 GS Portfolio – WordPress Portfolio Plugin with Filterable Portfolio Grid and Portfolio Slider 300+ · 4.4★ (37) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 WP Before After Image Slider – Interactive Image and Video Comparison Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 5 Neurogenesis Styler – Block Editor Typography, Spacing & Design Controls 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Products Skeleton Loader for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 PriceWise – Measurement Price Calculator for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 GrowthSystemsHQ Painting Quote Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 AR for WooCommerce – Augmented Reality & 3D Product Viewer for Art (ArtInAR) — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 PurePen AI – AI Content Generator with Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini & More 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑2 5 too high 11 S Scintilla Blocks 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑6 12 MethodGrid Maler-Kostenrechner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 AllTerrain Photo Editor – Crop, Resize, Paint & Photo Filters 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 AutoArticle Content Generator 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 PaintClarity — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 ScopeQuote Cost Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 WoPo Paint 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Chitta Behavioral AI Chatbot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 WunderPaint – The Dynamic Design and Automation Studio 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 45Squared AI Powered Image Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 P Pricestead Cost Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Incode Heatmap — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Monetto Case Study Drafts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 S Smart Forms by Livable Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.