Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “pgp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 17. 2 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.

Buried gem

Appointment Bookings for Zoom GoogleMeet and more – Wappointment places #3 on merit, 4.7★ from 50 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PGP Key Generator 40+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #1 2 wp2pgpmail 80+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #2 3 Appointment Bookings for Zoom GoogleMeet and more – Wappointment 1K+ · 4.7★ (50) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too low 4 Secure Encrypted Form 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 W WP PGP Encrypted Emails 300+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 OPI Security Boost 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 C Computernørden's Security Panel — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 ANON::form embedded secure form 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Nubivio Security Headers, security.txt & NIS2 Compliance for Healthcare — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 ArchivioMD — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 PlugUpp Dynamic OG Image Generator: Automatic Screenshot OG Images — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 O OpenPGP Form Encryption for WordPress 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13 Secure Messaging — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 W WP-LDAP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 W WP PGP email — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 16 C Cairn — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 P PgpContactForm — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 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.