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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “product sample button”

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 “product sample button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Free Product Samples for WooCommerce – Try Before You Buy, Request Samples by Mail shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 5231 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 WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) wp.org #1 2 Product Table & List Builder for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (254) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Product Table for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (295) wp.org #3 4 Free Product Sample for WooCommerce 200+ · 3.6★ (34) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too low 6 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 AI Product Tools – Bulk Product Content Generator & AI Toolkit for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Product Size Charts Plugin for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #8 ↑4 9 Min Max Step Quantity Limits Manager for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #23 ↓2 13 too low 11 Product Options and Price Calculation Formulas for WooCommerce – Uni CPO 1K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #24 ↓1 12 too low 13 Sizor Product Size Chart For WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #10 ↓4 3 too high 14 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #19 ↑3 5 too low 15 Product Code for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓2 5 too low 16 YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter 70K+ · 3.5★ (98) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 Product Option Kit – Product Options & Addons for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑9 11 too high 18 Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 WPC Product Quantity for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 too high 20 Notifima – WooCommerce Stock Manager, Inventory Management, Waitlist 2K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Delete All Products for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Free Product Samples for WooCommerce – Try Before You Buy, Request Samples by Mail 60+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 MWW Disclaimer Buttons 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Simple Product Sample 50+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 12 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.