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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “random page”

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 “random page”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

A Random Number shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 1564 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Random Content 3K+ · 4.8★ (35) wp.org #3 4 Random Posts and Pages Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Hot Random Image 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Random Banner 1K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Addon Elements for Elementor (formerly Elementor Addon Elements) 80K+ · 4.8★ (172) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Tabs Widget for Page Builder 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1917) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 A Random Number 700+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 WP Random Post Thumbnails 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Better Random Redirect 600+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 XV Random Quotes 300+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Random Post on Refresh 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 23 Generate Random Orders For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Random Image Block for Block Editor 90+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #18 6 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.