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

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 tracker”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Author Bio On Hover – Author Box shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Text To Speech TTS Accessibility places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 92 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 BaseCloud UTM Tracker 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #4 5 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #12 ↑11 7 too low 6 Podlove Podcast Publisher 3K+ · 4.3★ (45) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 Flipa PDF Flipbook – PDF Viewer and Page Flip Book 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WP Swiper 4K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10 Remote Website Management by Watchful 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 Taskbuilder – Project Management & Task Management Tool With Kanban Board 700+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Thim Kit for Elementor – Pre-built Templates & Widgets for Elementor 20K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Essential Classy Addons for Elementor – 150+ Widgets, Templates & Performance Tools 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14 C Cornerstone 20K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 AEO God Mode – AI Search Visibility 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 WP Sessions Time Monitoring Full Automatic 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Issues Tracker 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 My Reads – a virtual bookshelf for tracking and reviewing your reads 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 12 too high 20 FormsCRM – Connect Forms to CRM directly 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 BanglaPress – bKash, & Mobile Payment with Order Tracking & Invoice & Shipping Label Printing for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 LekTrail Reading Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 CookieRay – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (GDPR/CCPA Compliant) 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Author Bio On Hover – Author Box 40+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 13 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.