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

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 “race”, 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

Bullhorn Career Portal WordPress Plugin shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #1 2 Wallet for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (188) wp.org #2 3 Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events 2K+ · 4.5★ (292) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 AM LottiePlayer 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Raffle Ticket Generator – Woocommerce 100+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Live Event Seating Lite – Seating Chart, Floor Plan, RSVP & Event Ticket 40+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #17 ↑2 11 too low 7 Achievements sports league 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 XV Random Quotes 300+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #8 9 Gym Builder – Class Timetable & Booking for Gyms, Fitness & Yoga Studios 100+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↑1 12 too low 10 G-Live CMS 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Fleet Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 D DGD Race Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 {eac}ObjectCache – a persistent object cache using SQLite & APCu to cache WordPress objects. 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 Web Push Notifications by Aimtell 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Simpler Checkout 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 Race Session Countdown — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 Form Enhancer for Fluent Forms 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 Burgee – Race Scoring for Sailing Clubs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 GuestDock — Guest Post Management, Contributor Sandbox, Editorial Workflow & Content Security 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Mapthread 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 WPHostee Competitions for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 PayPlus Payment Gateway 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 GreenPay(tm) by Green.Money 100+ · 1.7★ (6) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too high 24 Bullhorn Career Portal WordPress Plugin 1K+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #5 19 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.