wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “poll maker”

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 “poll maker”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Pollify – Feedback Polls, Anonymous Polls, Up/down Voting, NPS Surveys, Export data shows at wp.org #6 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms places #10 on merit, 4.4★ from 433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4

Quiz Maker, Poll Maker & Survey Maker by Opinion Stage 6K+ · 4.4★ (277) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #13 6 too low 8

Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #8 ↑1 9

Chartify – WordPress Chart Plugin 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #9 ↓1 10

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #21 11 too low 11

Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13

AutomatorWP – No-Code Workflow Automation, Integration & Webhooks Plugin, now with AI 6K+ · 4.8★ (202) heavy footprint wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14

Photo Gallery by Ays – Responsive Image Gallery 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15

Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress by PirateForms 30K+ · 4.7★ (223) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 9 too low 16

Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑1 17

Pollify – Feedback Polls, Anonymous Polls, Up/down Voting, NPS Surveys, Export data 60+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #6 11 too high 18

Riddle Quiz Maker – easily add quizzes with unlimited lead generation to your site 200+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too high 19

AI ChatBot with ChatGPT and Content Generator by AYS 300+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #19 20

Personal Dictionary – Vocabulary Games, Memory Games 70+ · 4.8★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21

Quizably – Quiz Maker, Personality Quiz & Survey Builder 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22

SimpleForm – Form Maker to Chat Apps with Quiz, Poll and Multi Lead Notifications 20+ · 5.0★ (3) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 4 too high 23

myCred Addons – Ultimate myCred Modules To Support WordPress Gamification and Loyalty Rewards 400+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.