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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “root category”

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 “root category”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

M

Ranked above its merit

Multiple Category Selection Widget shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.9★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple Custom Post Order places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 588 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #1 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 ↑5 1 too low 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 Media Library Organizer – Folders, File Manager & Media Categories 20K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Product Category Dropdowns 800+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too low 8 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Collapsing Categories 4K+ · 4.1★ (57) wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too high 10 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too low 12 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #20 ↑3 8 too low 13 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too low 14 Maintenance & Coming Soon Redirect Animation 3K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too high 15 CSV Importer 3K+ · 4.2★ (28) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too high 16 WP Multilang – Translation and Multilingual Plugin 10K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 M Multiple Category Selection Widget 100+ · 2.9★ (14) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 AI Scrape Protect 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #22 23 Block Patterns for Food Bloggers 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Category Color Picker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 3 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.