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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “partially encrypted”

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 “partially encrypted”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

SimplePoTranslate shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20+ 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

Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 1509 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SSL Insecure Content Fixer 100K+ · 4.8★ (221) wp.org #1 2 License Manager for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (147) wp.org #2 3 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1321) wp.org #3 4 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 200K+ · 4.7★ (1509) wp.org #14 10 too low 5 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 80K+ · 4.8★ (79) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #16 ↓1 10 too low 7 I ionCube Tester Plus 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Bob Go Smart Shipping for WooCommerce 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Search Atlas SEO – OTTO AI SEO Automation for WordPress 8K+ · 3.3★ (24) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Subby Subscribers — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12 SimplePoTranslate 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Fast2SMS – OTP Login & SMS Notifications 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 Yo Booking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 TechWizard Packing Video Link for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 CatCode Order Sync with KeyCRM for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Dashified Sync for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 FormGhost — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 Sasono Payments for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Rectus Content Access for MCP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Cheerful Give — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Sideconvo Voice, Chat & Search Agent 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 BaseCloud Boost 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23

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.