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

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 “readings”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Daily Readings shows at wp.org #1 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200+ 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

DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 194 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Reading Time WP 20K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Reading progressbar 6K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #3 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Reading Position Indicator 800+ · 5.0★ (66) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 WP Reading Progress 3K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 Tarot, Oracle cards, Tarot readings, Tarokina 300+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #14 ↑4 4 too low 11 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #23 ↓4 11 too low 13 Daily Readings 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 12 too high 14 AccessiYes Accessibility Widget for ADA, EAA & WCAG Readiness 20K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 U Unique Headers 10K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too low 16 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too high 20 WP Robots Txt 40K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #20 ↓3 21 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #21 22 Reading Time 200+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Bible Reading Plans 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Sam Reading Time 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓2 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.