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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin updates manager”

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 “plugin updates manager”, 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

WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 23 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Disable Updates – Updates Manager, Disable Automatic Updates, Disable All Updates 9K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #4 ↑2 6 too high 11 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #18 ↑5 4 too low 15 Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #11 ↑4 7 too high 19 File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #16 ↓6 6 too high 23 WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #13 ↑3 10 too high 24 Simba Plugin Updates Manager 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.