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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “second life”

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 “second life”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Open Links in SL shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Photo Gallery – Image, Video & Portfolio 1K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Social Media Icon Widget – Social Profile Links with Gutenberg Block 4K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7 Photo Engine (Media Organizer & Lightroom) 2K+ · 4.9★ (210) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 A Adminimize 100K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Two Factor Authentication 20K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too low 11 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #17 ↓4 6 too low 12 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too low 14 EleSpare – News, Magazine and Blog Addons for Elementor 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 WP Datepicker 6K+ · 4.8★ (37) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #4 ↓1 12 too high 17 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 WPC Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too high 20 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 WPC Linked Variation for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Open Links in SL 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑2 15 too high 23 WP-DraftsForFriends 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Profile Box Shortcode And Widget 1K+ · 3.7★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.