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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “reading duration”

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 “reading duration”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

MinuteRead – Reading Time for Posts shows at wp.org #2 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 212 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 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #1 2 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #3 4 Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #6 7 HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170) wp.org #11 ↑7 4 too low 8 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too low 10 WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Salon Booking System – Appointment Booking for Salons, Barbershops & Spas 2K+ · 4.4★ (187) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 Kubio AI Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (79) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 MinuteRead – Reading Time for Posts 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 16 too high 19 WP Sessions Time Monitoring Full Automatic 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 too high 20 EU Consumer Rights for WooCommerce – Guarantee Notice, GARAN Label, Withdrawal Button, Right to Repair, Omnibus Price & GPSR 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 21 Binge Reading Archive Page 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 B Brevio Reading Duration — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 WP Before After Image Slider – Interactive Image and Video Comparison Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.