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

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 strings”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Featherweight shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 45 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 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 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #3 ↑7 1 too low 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 ↑1 3 too high 5 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #12 ↑4 1 too low 12 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too low 14 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339) wp.org #18 ↑4 3 too low 16 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18 Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 Injection Guard 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↑2 6 too high 20 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #21 ↑3 1 too low 21 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #24 ↓10 3 too low 22 Text Replace – Find and Replace WordPress Strings 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 Taxonomy Query Filter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑3 8 too high 24 InfoBilisim Query Strings Remover 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 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.