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

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 “saint”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Rapyd Payment Extension for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Kikote – Location Picker at Checkout & Google Address AutoFill Plugin for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 65 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 Disable User Login 6K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 2 WP WooCommerce Mailchimp 5K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Location Pack for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Shoppable Social Media Galleries by Sauce 2K+ · 3.9★ (39) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 All Currencies for WooCommerce 900+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 HTML5 Maps 4K+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #20 13 too low 8 Kikote – Location Picker at Checkout & Google Address AutoFill Plugin for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (65) wp.org #24 16 too low 9 Chwazi – Delivery & Pickup Scheduling for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #21 ↑1 12 too low 10 Cities Shipping Zones for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Sanctus – Saint du jour — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 9 too high 12 Colissimo shipping methods for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.7★ (28) wp.org #23 ↓2 11 too low 13 Exchange Rates 800+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #22 ↑1 9 too low 14 Santo do Dia 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Liturgical Day of the Week 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Holy Rosary — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Teamgate CRM Forms for WordPress 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Eliathis Delivery Zones and Pickup for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Eliathis Order Operations Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Georg-Kloster Calendar Workshop — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Karma Memorials 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 P Poterie Navarraise Pottery Market Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 TrackingMore Order Tracking for WooCommerce (Free plan available) 600+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Rapyd Payment Extension for WooCommerce 500+ · 1.0★ (2) wp.org #6 18 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.