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

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 “sanitization”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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 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

RSS Retriever Lite shows at wp.org #19 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 348 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #1 2 Safe SVG 1M+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #2 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (580) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #4 5 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (439) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 WP SVG Images 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Cyr to Lat Enhanced 80K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (422) wp.org #12 ↑3 4 too low 9 Username Changer 40K+ · 4.3★ (77) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 PDF.js Viewer 20K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Disk Usage Sunburst 9K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Lord of the Files: Enhanced Upload Security 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Comment Approved Notifier Extended 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 Add From Server Reloaded 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Header Footer Script Adder 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Modal Fly Cart & AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Easy Slider 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Menu Visibility Control 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Erdo Image Optimizer: Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF (SEO Audit, Alt Text, Lazy Load) 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 ClonePress – Duplicate Pages, Posts, Custom Post Types & Menu 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Jooosi Icon – Modern SVG icon library for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓7 1 too low 24 RSS Retriever Lite 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.