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

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 “preservation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Post/Page Import Export – Migrate Content with Custom Fields & Taxonomies shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #1 2 Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #2 3 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #3 4 AutoPoly – AI Translation For Polylang 5K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 SmartDoc to Post Importer 300+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 UWH Site Migrator – WP Migration, Backup & Restore 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑9 4 too low 7 Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #21 ↑1 14 too low 8 Blog Importer for HubSpot 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 9 Digi Eye Redirects 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 SkyLang Auto Translator for Polylang 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 LessFlux Image & Video Optimizer – WebP, AVIF, CDN & Lazy Load 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓3 7 too low 12 L Legacy URL Suffix & SEO Preserver 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Well-Known File Manager 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too low 14 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 BytNexo User Switcher 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Mass Resizer 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Password Protect – Temporary Login Without Password & Password Protect Entire Site 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 JGWS Media Optimizer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Watso – Basic Help Chat Button 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Codersly ERP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Exporter for Webflow 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 BlogPort Migrator for Blogger 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 Post/Page Import Export – Migrate Content with Custom Fields & Taxonomies 400+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 Shrinkwell Image Optimizer 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.