Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “reinstall”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

allow-reinstalls shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 40+ 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

Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 1233 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Force Reinstall 2K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Core Rollback 20K+ · 4.7★ (16) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233) wp.org #18 ↑2 13 too low 6 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Image and video gallery from Google Drive 4K+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #7 8 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #8 9 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Royal WordPress Backup, Restore & Migration Plugin – Backup WordPress Sites Safely 30K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Atlant Security 800+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 EZ Downloader – Plugin & Theme 90+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too low 13 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #20 ↓3 7 too low 14 Site Lockdown Security 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 UWH Site Migrator – WP Migration, Backup & Restore 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too high 16 Fatal Plugin Auto Deactivator – Never let a plugin break your site 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Fresh Plugins 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓4 5 too low 18 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too low 19 oik 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 Remove Empty Shortcodes 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 allow-reinstalls 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Ecomail 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Contractor Commerce Integration 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓3 7 too high 24 AP Family Trees 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.