wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “parent”
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 “parent”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 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
Redirect 404 to parent shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce places #11 on merit, 4.5★ from 784 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.
Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
No Category Parents 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #1 2 too high 4 
Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202)
wp.org #9 ↑12 5 too low 5 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #11 6 too low 6 
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89)
wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 
Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176)
wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 
Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273)
wp.org #12 ↓3 3 too low 10 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #16 ↑3 6 too low 11 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784)
wp.org #20 9 too low 12 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too low 13 
Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48)
wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 
Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72)
wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 
Child Theme Wizard 10K+ · 4.9★ (36)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓6 7 too low 17 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 
Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37)
wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too low 19 
Advanced iFrame 40K+ · 4.4★ (54)
wp.org #22 ↑1 3 too low 20 C Custom Post Type Parents 900+ · 4.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #5 15 too high 21 Redirect 404 to parent 60+ · 4.5★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #4 17 too high 22 
JSM Inherit Parent Featured Image 70+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #6 16 too high 23 
Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too high 24 
Modify Comment Parent 80+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #8 16 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.