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

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 “seating”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

Stachethemes Seat Planner Lite shows at wp.org #12 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget places #11 on merit, 4.5★ from 103 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #1 2 Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events 2K+ · 4.5★ (292) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Live Event Seating Lite – Seating Chart, Floor Plan, RSVP & Event Ticket 40+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 My Tickets – Accessible Event Ticketing 600+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #5 6 Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) wp.org #8 ↑10 1 too low 8 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 MapSVG – Vector maps, Image maps, Google Maps 1K+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation 700+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #10 11 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12 File Uploads Addon for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.7★ (27) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Ticket Tailor — Event Ticketing & Registration 4K+ · 4.3★ (46) wp.org #18 ↓4 5 too low 14 Rox Appointment Booking – Event, Calendar & Appointment Scheduling 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 PicPoints – Interactive Image Map & Hotspot Builder 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Venuera – Event Tickets for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Wedding RSVP – Wedding Guest List, Meal Choices & RSVP Tracker 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too high 18 Stachethemes Seat Planner Lite 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓3 6 too high 19 Ticketor 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Showpass WordPress Extension 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 SeatLayer Seating Charts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 Fast Events 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Events Calendar by FooEvents 4K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 Ticket Spot – Event Tickets, RSVPs & Calendar 40+ · 4.0★ (2) 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.