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

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 “pushover”, 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

Gravity Forms Pushover Add-On shows at wp.org #2 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #1 2 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #19 ↓1 14 too low 6 Pushover Integration for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events 2K+ · 4.5★ (292) wp.org #20 ↓1 13 too low 8 Simple:Press Forum 300+ · 4.2★ (24) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too low 9 Gravity Forms Pushover Add-On 70+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 L Login Alert Notification 20+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too high 11 MailArchiver 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 SendForce Mail SMTP Relay – SMTP and Email API 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too high 14 P Pushover Notifications for WordPress 200+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Webhook Actions – build automations and integrations with AI help — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 MainWP Post SMTP Extension – Easily Manage WP SMTP Setup for All Sites in One Place 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 PingPush Alerts for Pushover — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Scanfully 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too high 19 Amanva – Silent Mode Alert for FluentSMTP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Qndrs Availability and Heartbeat Monitor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 BackReload – Backup, Restore & Migration 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑2 7 too high 22 L Launchpad WP SMTP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 S SDK WP SMTP 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 P Pushover Notifications for Jetpack 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.