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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “screen recording”

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

Ranked above its merit

Image Protection shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 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

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Easy Form Builder by WhiteStudio – Drag & Drop Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too low 4 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too low 6 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #14 ↑4 8 too low 7 StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (58) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 SafeGuard Media Protection 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more 200K+ · 4.7★ (397) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 Webcam/Screen/Mic Recorder for Video Comments and Forms 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 10 too high 12 WpStream – Live Streaming, Video on Demand, Pay Per View 3K+ · 4.8★ (78) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #20 ↑3 7 too low 14 HelpGent – Video Funnels and Conversational Forms for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #17 ↓4 2 too low 16 FlexMeeting – Webinar & Meeting Plugin for Jitsi Meet 1K+ · 4.5★ (38) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Lucky Orange 2K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Virtual Classroom & Video Conferencing – BigBlueButton 400+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #19 ↓4 1 too low 19 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Image Protection 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 16 too high 21 FormFacade – Embed Google Forms in your website 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Screen Sharing System 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 15 too high 23 Webcam Microphone Screen Recorder – Media Capture 30+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓1 13 too high 24 Pipe Audio Video and Screen Recorder 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.