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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “php exec”

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

Airworthy – PHP Compatibility & Upgrade Checker shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ 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

SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 665 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Merge + Minify + Refresh 3K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Eli's PHP Compatibility Scanner 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 WPTerm 4K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #5 6 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #7 8 SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #24 ↓2 16 too low 9 Content Visibility for Divi Builder 2K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 System Dashboard 900+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 ImageMagick Engine 60K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 ReactPress 2K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Magic Product Video for WooCommerce – Self-Hosted Product Video Gallery 20+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too low 14 Rapls PDF Image Creator – PDF Thumbnails & Featured Images 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Auto Featured Image (Auto Generated) 200+ · 3.6★ (7) wp.org #15 16 ALD Login Page 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Airworthy – PHP Compatibility & Upgrade Checker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 ZIP AI – AI Website Builder & AI Agent 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Dashboard Server Info 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 Tandem PHP Upgrade Gatekeeper — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 ThemePackager 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 U Upaccn PHP Upgrade Risk Audit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Henkan – WebP & AVIF Converter 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.