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← Rankings

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

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 “pinned”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Pinned Feed Notices – Sticky Announcements for BuddyPress shows at wp.org #2 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 142 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WP Telegram (Auto Post and Notifications) 30K+ · 5.0★ (426) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #14 ↑2 6 too low 9 Weblizar Pin It Button On Image Hover And Post 10K+ · 4.0★ (64) wp.org #9 10 WP Telegram Widget and Join Link 4K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #15 ↓5 4 too low 12 Pinned Feed Notices – Sticky Announcements for BuddyPress 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 10 too high 13 Simple Shortcode for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too low 14 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too high 15 WP Telegram Login & Register 800+ · 4.9★ (37) wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 Terms and Conditions per Product for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 LazyTasks – Project & Task Management with Collaboration, Kanban and Gantt Chart 90+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↑4 5 too high 19 Live Shopping & Shoppable Videos For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 ShapedCart – WooCommerce Side Cart, Mini Cart & Floating Cart 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Sticky Comment 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Arts Horizontal Scroll for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 BugHerd 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Version Locker: Disable Updates, Rollback and Downgrade 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.