Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “persistence”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Nexura Security — Malware Scanner, Firewall, 2FA & WordPress Security shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 FormLift for Keap (Legacy) Web Forms 300+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 BitFire Security – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Bot Blocker, Login Protection 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 PDF Gallery Viewer 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Frontman – AI Website Editor 80+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓2 11 too low 8 Watchdog Security Lite — Powered by Lumiverse Nexus 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑3 5 too high 9 AI Support Assistant 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Random Image Block for Block Editor 100+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 Multi Location Product & Inventory Management for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 AiutoComputerHelp Persistence Audit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13 Press3D 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 Persistent Filters 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 J JTZL's Bot Maze 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑4 1 too high 16 Viraly – Blog to Social Media Auto Post, Scheduler & Analytics 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Shulman UTM Attribution for Elementor 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 TZM Block Reveal Controls 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Buy Button Plus – Sell Shopify Products 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Custonis – Security Exposure Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 StoreDisplay – Product Display Layouts for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓5 2 too high 22 bLoyal: Loyalty & Promotions by bLoyal 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Nexura Security — Malware Scanner, Firewall, 2FA & WordPress Security 20+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Xtreme Courses 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.