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

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 “rebuild”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

Index WP Users For Speed shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 574 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 A AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild 30K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #1 2 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #3 ↑4 1 too low 3 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (452) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Simple Image Sizes 60K+ · 4.6★ (91) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #9 ↑3 2 too low 8 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #7 ↑6 1 too high 9 Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #21 ↓10 11 too low 11 Waymark 900+ · 5.0★ (54) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #12 ↓3 13 WooSwipe WooCommerce Gallery 3K+ · 4.5★ (39) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too high 14 RabbitLoader 1K+ · 4.5★ (67) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15 FastDup – Fastest WordPress Migration & Duplicator 5K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #15 ↑1 16 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #23 ↓6 6 too low 18 Index WP Users For Speed 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓6 7 too high 19 Block wp-login 600+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #19 ↑3 20 Rename WP Media Files Name 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 Marquee Running Text 5K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 UseStrict’s Calendly Embedder 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 ABCode Cache Warmer 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 GoCardless for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 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.