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

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 “sailing”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

WP Hotel Booking WooCommerce shows at wp.org #1 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 23 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Hotel Booking 7K+ · 3.7★ (67) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Simple Client Dashboard 2K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Project Management, Bug and Issue Tracking Plugin – Software Issue Manager 20+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Add-on Contact Form 7 – MailPoet 3 3K+ · 3.9★ (16) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 WP Hotel Booking Stripe Payment 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Fleet Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 8 WP Hotel Booking Authorize Payment 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Burgee – Race Scoring for Sailing Clubs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 WP Hotel Booking WPML Support 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 MagePeople Ferry Booking System — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 UltimaTour Operator 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Boat Position — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 PCIO VIS Boat — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Yacht Booking System – Boat Charter Booking Plugin — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 SunnyTracker Widgets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too low 17 RockScience Marine Chart Viewer for NOAA ENC — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 HarborBook — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Spotmap 50+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Boat Tracker 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 W Wedepohl Engineering Time Since — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Croct – Content Personalization for WordPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 S Signal Flags 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 WP Hotel Booking WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #1 23 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.