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← Rankings

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

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 “punycode”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Spurn shows at wp.org #5 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 5 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

Mollie Payments for WooCommerce places #2 on merit, 3.6★ from 69 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Block Referer Spam 500+ · 3.4★ (21) wp.org #1 2 Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too low 3 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too low 4 Each domain a page 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Registration Email Blocker 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Kama Click Counter 800+ · 3.9★ (9) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 一介資男(Mxp.TW) 開發工具箱 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Sentryvine — Antivirus & Anti-Phishing Security — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 ↓1 4 too high 9 Peki – Fiken Integration for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Spurn — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 Confident 404 Redirect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 Custom canonical URL for Yoast SEO 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 LeadConnector 20K+ · 2.3★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 WPCoreTools Disposable Email Guard 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 I IDNA 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 O Only Self Pings 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 Local PR Outbound UTM Tagger — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 DomainWarn Monitoring — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 TrustSig Security 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 WH4U Domains — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 AudiScale Connector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Multisite Landingpages — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 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.