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

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 “ruler”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

Product Designer App shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CartSuite – Cart All In One For WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (51) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 PixMagix – WordPress Image Editor 200+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 T Themify Shortcodes 7K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 WaveSurfer-WP 400+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #18 ↓1 14 too low 5 Accessibility Assistant – Readabler 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Smartfish Accessibility 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 L Local Ruler Meta Keywords Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 P Perfect Ring Fit — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Focalio – Focal Point Cropping, WebP & AVIF Images 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too high 10 Orange Comfort+ accessibility toolbar for WordPress 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Image Split – Before/After Image Comparison Slider — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Toolbox for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Sangar Studio Access Flow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 E Editor Tweaks for CodeMirror — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Iza Product Designer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 Vampire Character Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 Qthemy Slider Builder — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Sizy – Size Chart for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 WS Scale Ring Size — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Zoro Slider — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Face Analysis Quiz & Age Guesser Widget — Interactive Content by RealSmile — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 Tagloom — Label Designer & Bluetooth Printing for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Visuaro – Product Designer for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Product Designer App 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 13 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.