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

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 “puzzles”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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

EV Puzzles shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10+ 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

WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 213 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 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #1 2 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too low 5 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #11 ↓3 6 too low 6 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #14 ↓4 8 too low 7 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #7 8 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #22 14 too low 9 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Friendly Captcha for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (18) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Crossword Compiler Puzzles 200+ · 2.8★ (5) wp.org #2 9 too high 12 WHA Puzzle 200+ · 3.4★ (8) wp.org #5 ↑1 7 too high 13 Essential Form – The lightest plugin for contact forms, ultra lightweight and no spam 600+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 PuzzleMe – Interactive Puzzles for WordPress – Easily publish crosswords, quizzes, word searches and more 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #4 ↑1 10 too high 15 DoLogin Security 7K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 ARCaptcha – Puzzle Captcha | New-generation Captcha and bot protection 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Verge3D Publishing and E-Commerce 400+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Mevabi – Word Search Puzzle Builder 10+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 WPC AJAX Search for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Mevabi – Daily Word Puzzle 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑4 7 too high 21 Embed Chessboard 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22 EV Puzzles 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑2 12 too high 23 WP Shredderchess 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 W WP Sudoku Plus 100+ · 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.