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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “press us”

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 “press us”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Smartarget Viber – Contact Us shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 2215 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 wp.org
1 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #1 2 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader 200K+ · 4.7★ (1148) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Simple:Press Forum 300+ · 4.2★ (24) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds 20K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more 2K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Giveaways and Contests by RafflePress – Get More Website Traffic, Email Subscribers, and Social Followers 20K+ · 3.9★ (43) wp.org #16 17 Smartarget Social – Contact Us 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 15 too high 18 Donorbox – Free Recurring Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 8K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Nooz 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Podcast Importer SecondLine 4K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Smartarget Viber – Contact Us 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 18 too high 23 Extendify 500K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Smartarget Contact Us – All in one 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 14 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.