wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “recent activity”

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 “recent activity”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10K+ 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

CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 365 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #1 2

WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #2 3

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #3 4

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Activity Log Pro – User Activity Log, Audit Log & Security Monitor 400+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #15 8 too low 8

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #13 5 too low 9

Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (189) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 1 too high 10

Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #22 12 too low 11

CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #24 13 too low 12

Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) not PHP-current wp.org #21 9 too low 13

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #17 4 too low 14

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 9 too low 15

SALERT – Social Proof Notifications & Live Sales Popup 8K+ · 3.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #12 3 too high 16

Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #14 2 too high 17

Nudgify Social Proof 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #10 7 too high 18

Block User Account 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #9 9 too high 19

Hippoo Mobile App for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too low 20

Logify WP – Activity Log & User Audit Log 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #11 9 too high 21

Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #7 14 too high 22

Adminify Activity Log & Audit Trail 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 4 too high 23

DevDome Activity Log: Track WordPress User Activity 100+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 4 too high 24

SureDonation – Donation Forms, Fundraising Campaigns & Donor Management 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 8 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.