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

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 “pizza”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

FoodBook Lite – Online Food Ordering System shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 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

Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 91 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #1 2 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #2 3 WPPizza – A Restaurant Plugin 900+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Decimal Product Quantity for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #5 6 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #18 12 too low 7 Smart Online Order for Clover 1K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 RestroPress – Online Food Ordering System 1K+ · 4.4★ (102) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 YITH WooCommerce Product Add-Ons 20K+ · 3.7★ (57) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Food Online for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.1★ (26) wp.org #11 12 Default Admin Color Scheme 800+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #12 ↓3 13 Calculate Prices based on Distance For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 VikRestaurants Table Reservations and Take-Away 600+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Discount Rules for WooCommerce – Disco | Dynamic Pricing, Conditions, Bulk, Bundle, BOGO 5K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Easy Duplicate Product for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓3 18 Product Option Kit – Product Options & Addons for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 FoodBook Lite – Online Food Ordering System 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Flipdish Ordering System 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 Dynamic Keyword Insertion for WP 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Canonical Pages 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 P POFW Pizza Toppings — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Hide Admin Icons 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓3 4 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.