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

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 “paris”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Search URL Beautifier shows at wp.org #7 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 BEA – Sanitize Filename 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Stock Ticker 2K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Location Pack for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #5 6 Comments – GraphComment | AI-Moderated Comment System 400+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Bulk Page Duplicator 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 WP Engine GeoTarget 300+ · 3.6★ (15) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Cyberpret – Calculettes 500+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Cookie Dough Compliance and Consent for GDPR 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Under The Weather 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Universal Honey Pot 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Search URL Beautifier 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Meteo 700+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Mentions Legales Par Webdeclic 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Time.now Clock Widget 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 CONCILIUM IA Rank GEO 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 User Supersearch 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 WeTravel Widgets 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 WFY24 Weather Widget 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Event – Add to Calendar 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Clean My WP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Snorklee Analytics – Cookieless GDPR Web Analytics — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Quiver Delivery 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 5 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.