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

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 “pb”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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.

Ranked above its merit

Paul Bunyan shows at wp.org #4 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 40+ 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

Events Shortcodes For The Events Calendar places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 214 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 PagBank / PagSeguro e Vindi para WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (64) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 ContentBot AI Writer (AI Content) 400+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #3 4 Pie Register – User Registration, Profiles & Content Restriction 1K+ · 4.2★ (222) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Events Shortcodes For The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (214) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too low 6 Web and WooCommerce Addons for WPBakery Builder 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Product Publisher Info for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 A Autopreenchimento de endereço em formulários 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 WP Site Checker – Speed, Security & QA Monitoring 10+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Paul Bunyan 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 7 too high 12 PB Floats Contact Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 5 too high 13 Blazo Checkout — · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Pie Forms — Drag & Drop Form Builder 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 PB UAE VAT Invoicing System for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 Enterprise Shipping for Pitney Bowes 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 PB Gig Diary — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 PB Autocomplete CEP for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 PB Bulk Product Editor for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 PB Text and Images Placeholder Fallback Suite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Automotive Inventory Importer – Sync Car Dealer Feeds 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 OpenSheetMusicDisplay 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 CardanoPress – Governance for Cardano 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 CardanoPress – Initial Stake Pool Offering Dashboard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.