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← Rankings

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

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 “school”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 3 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

Add Old School Elements Icons Module for WPBakery Page Builder shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 80+ 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

Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #1 2 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #9 ↑2 6 too low 4 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too low 7 WP School Calendar 400+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin – for Online Courses and Education 10K+ · 4.5★ (487) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #18 ↑2 8 too low 11 School Management System – WPSchoolPress 1K+ · 4.0★ (21) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #24 ↓5 10 too low 15 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too high 16 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Educare – Students & Result Management System 600+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 Booking Package 10K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 BlockStrap Page Builder – Bootstrap Blocks 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #10 ↑3 10 too high 21 Address Autocomplete via Google for Gravity Forms 1K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 Add Old School Elements Icons Module for WPBakery Page Builder 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 16 too high 23 European School Radio Widget Block 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Neexa | Sales and Enrollment AI Agent for B2C Businesses and Schools 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑2 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.