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

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 “reference”, we agree with wp.org 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

Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary shows at wp.org #2 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.4★ from 1397 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #12 ↓8 7 too low 6 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #6 7 Donations via PayPal 20K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too high 8 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 WSB HUB3 1K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #9 ↑4 10 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Multibanco, MB WAY, Credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Payshop, and PIX (ifthenpay) for WooCommerce 8K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #7 ↑9 4 too high 12 Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 ↓1 10 too high 13 Gutenberg 400K+ · 2.1★ (3888) wp.org #11 ↑7 2 too high 14 Smart COD for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Disable and Remove Google Fonts | GDPR & DSGVO friendly 100K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too low 16 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Virtual Robots.txt 40K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Logos Reftagger 10K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #21 ↓6 2 too low 20 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 BibleLink Multilingual 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 ↓4 7 too high 22 Blank Footnotes 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓4 7 too high 23 Footnotes & Content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 Repeat Order for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #20 4 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.