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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “panic button”

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 “panic button”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Koinonia Link shows at wp.org #6 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10+ 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

Enlighter – Customizable Syntax Highlighter places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 65 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #5 ↑5 4 too low 2 Surbma | Divi & Gravity Forms 9K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic 10K+ · 4.4★ (1053) wp.org #9 ↓2 6 too low 4 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Safety Exit 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 ↑1 4 too high 6 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Oliver POS – WooCommerce POS for iPhone, iPad & Android 700+ · 4.2★ (90) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Enlighter – Customizable Syntax Highlighter 10K+ · 4.8★ (65) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 MaxLimits – Increase Maximum Upload, Post & PHP Limits 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 ↑1 7 too high 10 Simple SEO 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 WebPOS – Point of Sale for WooCommerce 50+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 WP Google Street View (with 360° virtual tour) & Google maps + Local SEO 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 5 too high 13 TrustLens – Fraud Prevention & Chargeback Defense for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 Koinonia Link 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 World Domination 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 7 too high 16 GM Adaptive CSS Grid Columns — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 UpdatePulse Server 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑5 6 too high 18 EVelum Safe Browsing — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Royal AI Firewall 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 CheckoutHawk — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too high 21 R RokthamBot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑3 1 too high 22 Branexa – White Label, Custom Login & Branding — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑3 1 too high 23 Solutiontech Seguridad de acceso — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Patcherly — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.