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

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 “sales”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Sales Report for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 591 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too high 4 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar 30K+ · 4.8★ (228) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD 6K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #8 9 Finale Lite – Sales Countdown Timer & Discount for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (151) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #17 ↑3 7 too low 11 Countix Sales Countdown Timer 5K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too high 12 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Sales Report for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Product Labels For Woocommerce (Sale Badges) 10K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #16 ↑6 1 too high 18 Sales Tax Reports For WooCommerce 800+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 Total Sales Counts for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 SALERT – Social Proof Notifications & Live Sales Popup 8K+ · 3.9★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too high 21 N Ni WooCommerce Sales Report – Orders, Revenue & Sales Analytics Dashboard 400+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Bit CRM: Sales CRM Manage Lead, Contact, Deal, Invoice, Client Portal & Collect Payment 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 23 Show Product Sales Count for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too high 24 Sales Counter For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.