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

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 “percent”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Hot Random Image shows at wp.org #4 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Quiz Maker by AYS places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 601 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 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #1 2 MapPress – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap & Leaflet 30K+ · 4.7★ (147) wp.org #2 3 I iframe 60K+ · 4.4★ (56) wp.org #3 4 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1657) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #10 ↑10 5 too low 6 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 La Sentinelle antispam 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Music Player for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Flexible Map 7K+ · 4.8★ (66) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 Hot Random Image 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #11 ↓5 12 Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.7★ (497) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 HD Quiz 6K+ · 4.9★ (145) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 CP Contact Form with PayPal 800+ · 3.8★ (65) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Custom Checkout Fields for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 WCFM Membership – WooCommerce Memberships for Multivendor Marketplace 10K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Mortgage Calculator 1K+ · 3.9★ (13) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 Sitewide Discount for WooCommerce: Apply Discount to All Products 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Percent – Porcentaje de Descuento en Woocommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #21 22 Music Player for Easy Digital Downloads 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Clear Autoptimize Cache Automatically 4K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 Loan Calculator 400+ · 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.