Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post voting”

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 “post voting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Crowdsignal Forms shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #1 2 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 bbPress Voting 400+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (452) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 ePoll – Contest Poll Survey & Voting 1K+ · 3.9★ (24) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Democracy Poll 6K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 TS Poll – Survey, Versus Poll, Image Poll, Video Poll 3K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15 Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe 1K+ · 4.4★ (89) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Like Button Rating ♥ LikeBtn 3K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 Forumax – AI Powered Advanced Community Forum Plugin 500+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 I Recommend This – Love/Like Button for WordPress Posts 4K+ · 4.7★ (38) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Advanced Accordion Gutenberg Block – Create Beautiful FAQs, Content Accordions & Interactive Tabs 9K+ · 4.1★ (34) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 IdeaPush 700+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Crowdsignal Dashboard – Polls, Surveys & more 200K+ · 2.7★ (34) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Crowdsignal Forms 200K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Pollify – Feedback Polls, Anonymous Polls, Up/down Voting, NPS Surveys, Export data 60+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Easy Content Manager (ECM) – Custom Post Types, Custom Fields & Content Management 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 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.