wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “placeholders”
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 “placeholders”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 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.
Ranked above its merit
Image Placeholders shows at wp.org #1 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 
LoginWP (Formerly Peter's Login Redirect) 80K+ · 4.8★ (503)
wp.org #6 ↑4 2 too low 5 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #5 ↑6 6 
Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 
Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) heavy footprint
wp.org #9 ↓6 1 too low 9 
FakerPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (205)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too high 11 
Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640)
wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #23 11 too low 13 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #15 2 too low 14 
Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111)
wp.org #13 1 too high 15 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #21 ↑3 6 too low 16 
Performance Lab 100K+ · 4.3★ (51)
wp.org #11 ↑3 5 too high 17 
EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842)
wp.org #24 ↓6 7 too low 18 
Embed Privacy 10K+ · 4.9★ (26)
wp.org #14 ↓5 4 too high 19 
VS Contact Form 6K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Image Placeholders 60K+ · 3.5★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #1 19 too high 21 
Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30)
wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too high 22 
Email Customizer for WooCommerce | Drag and Drop Email Templates Builder 9K+ · 4.3★ (44) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 
WP Last Login 10K+ · 3.8★ (26)
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
Kansleri Cookie Consent 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #18 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.