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

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

Integration for Airtable – Import Airtable to WordPress & Submit Forms to Airtable shows at wp.org #6 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 70+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #1 2 WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #2 3 Timetics – Appointment Booking Calendar & Scheduling 2K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Employee, Leave and Recruitment Management System – Crew HRM 100+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #4 5 WC Affiliate – WooCommerce Affiliate Plugin 300+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 C ChatHire Careers & CRM — · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 OTYS Plugin 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 PCRecruiter Extensions 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Job Manager by JobScore 10+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Heyrecruit 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Integration for Airtable – Import Airtable to WordPress & Submit Forms to Airtable 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 Rekomi: Affiliate Marketing and Referral Programs for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13 Isolved Talent Acquisition 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Bookingor – Booking System and Appointment Booking Calendar, Meeting Scheduling & WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Inserato Stellenanzeigen 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Guild Recruitment Widget for WoW — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Tamago-DB Job board 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 Knights of Columbus – State — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Backdigital Job Board for Onapply — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Probono Booking Basic — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Connectoor Jobs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Vakanssi: Careers Page, Hiring & Applicant Tracking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Vakaro — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Isolved Talent Acquisition 10+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.