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

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 “pp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 2 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

MiniCRM Connect shows at wp.org #14 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 20+ 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

Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget places #5 on merit, 4.5★ from 103 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Duplicate PP 10K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #1 2 Embed Any Document – Embed PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel Files 50K+ · 4.2★ (92) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 FileBird Document Library 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 M MimeTypes Link Icons 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 FlyWP Helper – Page Cache, Page Optimization, Emails for FlyWP Server Control Panel 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 WPYog Documents 100+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Document Library Lite 4K+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 PitchPrint 300+ · 3.7★ (30) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Custom Fields Account Registration For Woocommerce 700+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 PP Maintenance Labels 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 PP Editorial Notes & Review Workflow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 R Rocket Media Library Mime Type 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Simple Post View Counter – Clean and Fast Post View Analytics 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 VK Ads Pixel plugin 2K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 Datman Payment Gateway for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 Send Contact Form 7 submissions to MAX Messenger bot 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too high 18 MatrixInn Password Protect – Site & Pages — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 ZetaLine Site Notifications for MAX 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 Texas Hold'em Cards — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 MiniCRM Connect 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 N Nikolaus77 Order Notifications with MAX — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Product Performance Score for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Nimora – AI SEO, Product Media & Analytics — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 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.