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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “run diary”

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 “run diary”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 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

Modern Hotel Booking — Direct Booking Engine, Availability Calendar & Vacation Rental PMS shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MeetingHub – Appointment Booking & Meeting Scheduling for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Jitsi 400+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 DineKit – Restaurant Menu, Online Ordering, Table Reservations & POS 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 3 Run Log 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 PB Gig Diary — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 DadsFam SMTP 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 DadsFam Login Security 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 Post Kinds 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #24 ↓3 17 too low 8 Workshop Hub Online Booking Form — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 MML Booking Calendar 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 LineSW Search Rank Monitor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Buildler: Book and Grow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Doctor Appointment Booking & Clinic Management – Alnora — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Your Move Nutrition – Calorie Calculator, Tracker & Barcode Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 xiaochen – Auto Writer & Comment Reply — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 S SavorPilot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 RISET – Project Profit & Expense Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Modern Hotel Booking — Direct Booking Engine, Availability Calendar & Vacation Rental PMS 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Takumi Private Gate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 ModuleFest Pet Walker – Pet Walking Business Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 ClearComet Cloak for MCP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Alsoworks Fitness Booking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 ModuleFest Pet Groomer – Pet Grooming Business Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 AI Content Bridge — AI Content Generator with Topic Clusters & Internal Linking — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 TerraSuite – Estate Agency Software, Property Listings and Map Search — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.