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

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 “palette”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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.

F

Ranked above its merit

FameTheme Demo Importer shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 30K+ 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

Ninja Tables – Easy Data Table Builder places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 472 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too low 4 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too low 5 Block Editor Colors 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Kadence Starter Templates — Predesigned Website Templates 200K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Editor Custom Color Palette 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 6 too high 8 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #14 ↑5 5 too low 10 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #17 ↑5 6 too low 12 Ninja Tables – Easy Data Table Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #20 ↓6 8 too low 13 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too high 14 Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #16 ↓4 2 too low 15 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too high 16 Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Stock Market Ticker 2K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too high 18 Customify 10K+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 F FameTheme Demo Importer 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 13 too high 20 Video Popup – Youtube, Vimeo, Gutenberg, Shortcode, Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Gmap Block 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 Stockdio Historical Chart 800+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #22 ↑2 23 Stock Market Overview 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Aticolor Palettes – Color Palette Manager for Designers 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.