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

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 planning”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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 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

Order auto complete for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 537 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 Project Manager – AI Powered Project Management, Task Management, Kanban Board & Time Tracker 5K+ · 3.8★ (187) wp.org #1 2 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #3 4 LazyTasks – Project & Task Management with Collaboration, Kanban and Gantt Chart 90+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #17 12 too low 6 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Log in with Google 6K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat 200K+ · 4.3★ (207) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too low 9 Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 ERP: Complete HR, Accounting & CRM Suite Built for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.4★ (149) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 Popup Maker – Responsive popup, Exit Intent Pop up, Email Optins, Autoresponder & More 7K+ · 4.5★ (144) wp.org #19 ↑1 7 too low 13 Post Timeline 700+ · 4.2★ (21) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 Angie – Agentic AI 100K+ · 3.3★ (20) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 Termin-Kalender 500+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17 Slickplan Importer 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 10 too high 18 Employee Directory – Staff & Team Directory 100+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #18 19 Order auto complete for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 MM Back To Top — Scroll Up Button 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 FundPress – WordPress Donation Plugin 300+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WP Before After Image Slider – Interactive Image and Video Comparison Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑2 23 WP To Do 100+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #23 24 WPNakama – Editorial Workflow & Content Planning for WP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.