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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “project planner”

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 “project planner”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Undergroundact Project Planner shows at wp.org #5 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its — 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

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO places #5 on merit, 4.6★ from 683 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #1 2 Cost Calculator Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (393) wp.org #4 ↑3 2 too low 3 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too low 4 Taskbuilder – Project Management & Task Management Tool With Kanban Board 700+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #17 12 too low 6 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 AI Content Wizard Lite — SEO Content & Planner for OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek & Gemini 10+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Slickplan Importer 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Layouts for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Sugar Calendar – Events Calendar, Event Tickets, and Events Management Platform 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Termin-Kalender 500+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Chatbot for WordPress by Collect.chat ⚡️ 6K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 PT Project Notebooks 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 RightBlogger – AI SEO Agent & Autoblogging 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Undergroundact Project Planner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓1 10 too high 16 Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Social Planner 40+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 UWH Image Optimizer & Converter 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Digiter Calendar Ultra Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Sekkei – Section Planner & Workflow Toolkit for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 ProjectPlot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 WPNakama – Editorial Workflow & Content Planning for WP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 TimeGuard – Freelancer Time Log Pro — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.