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

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 “pure”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Change class in viewport: create animations with pure CSS shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 504 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Lightbox for Gallery & Image Block 20K+ · 5.0★ (88) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Pure Chat – Live Chat & More! 3K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #2 3 Pure Metafields 10K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Export Without Shortcodes: convert to pure HTML the exported content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73) wp.org #18 ↑3 8 too low 11 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Code Prettify 1K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Simple GDPR Cookie Compliance 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #14 15 LoftLoader 70K+ · 4.5★ (33) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Gantry 5 Framework 7K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #17 18 Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 Jetpack Search 5K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Latest Posts 4K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Change class in viewport: create animations with pure CSS 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Pure Demo Importer 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Icono – Pure CSS icons 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Outrank 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.