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

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 “polish”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 706 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 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Orphans 50K+ · 5.0★ (164) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #4 ↑6 5 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #13 ↓4 5 too low 9 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #12 ↑4 3 too low 10 Reveal IDs 40K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #8 ↑3 3 too high 12 Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 ICS Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (72) wp.org #19 ↓7 5 too low 15 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Google Authenticator 20K+ · 4.3★ (135) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Bible Verse of the Day 3K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↑1 15 too high 22 Interactive Polish Map 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓4 13 too high 23 Admin Management Xtended 5K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Polski for WooCommerce 60+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #16 ↑2 8 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.