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← Rankings

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

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 “profession”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Charity Addon for Elementor shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

eCommerce Product Catalog places #1 on merit, 4.7★ from 270 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 eCommerce Product Catalog 7K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #7 ↓2 6 too low 2 Chartify – WordPress Chart Plugin 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #6 ↓3 4 too low 3 Dynamic Team Manager – Team Member Showcase with grid, slider, table Elementor widget & shortcode 900+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 Events Addon for Elementor 7K+ · 3.2★ (5) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Primary Addon for Elementor 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Medical Addon for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Restaurant & Cafe Addon for Elementor 1K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 GS Coach – Professional Team Showcase for Coaches & Consultants 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 9 T Timologia for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 WDV About Me Widget 800+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #10 11 G Genealogy 50+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 ComptaFlow by MeeTempo – French Accounting for WordPress — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 ProSolution WP Client 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 DocCheck Access 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 DocID® 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Guild Roster Importer for WoW — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 NV oOS Content Graph 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Joolweb Sessions Pro — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Robot Food — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Business Cloud ERP Integration for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 AnimFolio – Animated Portfolio & Resume Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Aiolos Checkout for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Yespo CDP for WooCommerce: Email Marketing, Automation & Web Tracking 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Charity Addon for Elementor 1K+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.