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

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 “racing”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Kitgenix Image Optimizer shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 136 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Achievements sports league 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #16 13 too low 4 Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) wp.org #13 9 too low 5 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #19 ↓1 14 too low 6 Burgee – Race Scoring for Sailing Clubs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 U Uras Game Box for Oyunlar1.io — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Sadat Loginverse — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Motorsports Calendar Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 CatCode Card Payments with EasyPay for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 pCloud WP Backup 1K+ · 2.8★ (20) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 RowanWeb Markdown for AI – .md Pages & llms.txt — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 FreePay for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Seat & Table Booking for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Opus Price Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Peach Payments Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Plays Games Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 DragBlock – WordPress Site & Page Builder with Advanced Blocks 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 Kitgenix Image Optimizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Fleet Agent Site Manager – Securely Connects Your Sites to a WPMgr Dashboard 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 Desku.io – Live Chat, Help Desk & Knowledge Base 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 CartRevival – Abandoned Cart Recovery & Live Cart Monitor 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 SteClick Counter 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Contentlockr — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.