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

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 “polyfill”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

HyperPay Payments shows at wp.org #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Search Analytics for WP – Site Search Tracking 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #2 3 F Fast Smooth Scroll 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #4 5 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #23 ↓2 18 too low 6 T Trackserver 400+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Sales 500+ · 4.4★ (136) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Pen 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 AI Infographic Maker 600+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 Mattytap Sermons 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 WebEquipe PDF Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Fleet Agent Site Manager – Securely Connects Your Sites to a WPMgr Dashboard 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 HyperPay Payments 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Joinotify – WhatsApp Notifications & Marketing Automation 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 EventBookings — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Tab Teaser — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18 Hísi Anim – Scroll Animations for Elementor, Bricks & Gutenberg 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Theme SCSS Compiler 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 PushAI – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 agentprose — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Addronix Addons for Elementor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 EmiCache – Faster Elementor, Better PageSpeed 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Novixa Addons for Elementor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.