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

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

BlockBee Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Contact Form 7 – PayPal & Stripe Add-on places #8 on merit, 4.2★ from 125 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 wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 myPOS Checkout 4K+ · 3.3★ (16) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 CryptAPI Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 400+ · 3.7★ (9) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #20 15 too low 6 Euro FxRef Currency Converter (by DKZR) 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 WPMathPub 300+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Contact Form 7 – PayPal & Stripe Add-on 7K+ · 4.2★ (125) wp.org #24 ↓1 16 too low 9 Easy Stripe Payments & Donations 10+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Ron Social Page Embed 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 PlatiOnline Payments 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 Credit Online Smart by BT Direct 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too high 13 JaJa Payment Gateway For WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Onu Exchange Rates and Converter for BNR — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Payout payment gateway 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Astrio Chatbot – AI Chatbot, Live Chat & Lead Capture — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 BlockBee Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway 40+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 RockOn Woo Variations Table — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 NMR Fundraiser Hub — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 LoquiSoft Pay with Mollie & WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Cherum Pay for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 P Paypercut BNPL for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 ePAL Cross Border Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Botelix – Deposit Return Scheme (Pfand, SGR, Kaucja, Zaloh) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.