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← Rankings

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

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 “playground”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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 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

WordPress Playground Block shows at wp.org #2 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ 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

Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 497 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #5 ↑3 2 too low 4 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #10 ↑3 4 too low 7 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #15 ↑2 8 too low 8 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #4 ↓1 4 too high 9 Pricing Table by Supsystic – Responsive Pricing Plans & Comparison Tables 10K+ · 4.1★ (288) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.7★ (497) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 WordPress Playground Block 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 ↓1 11 too high 14 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 M Media Search Enhanced 5K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Force Update Translations 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Mark Posts 1K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 AI Bud – AI Content Generator, AI Chatbot, ChatGPT, Gemini, GPT-4o 2K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 WP Sitemaps Config 700+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Dynamic Year Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Categories Metabox Enhanced 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 BjornTech Fortnox Hub for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Freemius for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Quick Playground 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.