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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “query monitor”

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

ElasticPress Debugging Add-On shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 14377 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (469) wp.org #1 2 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (524) wp.org #2 3 Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (156) wp.org #3 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5008) wp.org #4 5 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1717) wp.org #5 6 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14377) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.5★ (165) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2131) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 600K+ · 4.1★ (757) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth 3M+ · 3.7★ (2407) wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too low 13 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5209) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Malcure Malware Shield — Removal, Repair, Monitor 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 S SQLite Database Integration 5K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #15 ↑2 16 Traffic Monitor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 WP Debugging 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Link Manager – Analyze, Automate, and Monitor Links 1K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 ElasticPress Debugging Add-On 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 Hungry Resource Monitor 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 11 too high 21 DebugPress: Debugger in Popup 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 SEO Repair Kit – Spam Monitor, Meta Manager, Schema Manager, Internal Linking, SEO Content Monitoring, GSC Integration 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 LukStack Uptime Monitor 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Hungry REST API Monitor 30+ · 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.