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

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 “science”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 120 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 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (185) wp.org #1 2 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (589) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Regenerate Thumbnails 1M+ · 4.6★ (396) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 PowerPress Podcasting plugin by Blubrry 20K+ · 4.6★ (231) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 EmbedPress – PDF Embedder, 3D PDF FlipBook, Google Reviews, YouTube Videos, Upload & Embed PDF documents 100K+ · 4.8★ (306) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 B Book Review Library 200+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #6 7 Quiz Cat – WordPress Quiz Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning 2K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 too low 9 Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 WP Calorie Calculator 1K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Dynamic Product Gallery for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.1★ (37) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 M MathJax-LaTeX 10K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Swift Performance Lite 6K+ · 3.6★ (125) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 HAL 500+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 IssueM 600+ · 4.1★ (13) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Ultimate Loan & Mortgage Calculator 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Scrollchart 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 C Christian Science Bible Lesson Subjects 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Mon Laboratoire 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Scientific and Interactive Blocks – inseri core 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Campaign Archive Block for Mailchimp 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 CJ Network Integration 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 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.