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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “select2”

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 “select2”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Select Enhancer for Elementor Forms with Select2 shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Maps Widget for Google Maps places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 512 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #2 3 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #3 4 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #23 16 too low 8 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Faview – Virtual Reviews for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Advanced AJAX Product Filters 50K+ · 4.7★ (387) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Custom Checkout Fields for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 WSMS (formerly WP SMS): SMS and OTP for WordPress and WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.1★ (107) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Flash Toolkit 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 WPC Variations Radio Buttons for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Ever Accounting – Accounting & Invoicing Solution for Small Businesses 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Customify 10K+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Cool FormKit Lite – Advanced Form Builder for Elementor 20K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 F12 Floating Menu, sticky menu for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Rocket Font – 한글 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Odyssey LLMS 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Select Enhancer for Elementor Forms with Select2 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 16 too high 24 Repeater for Contact Form 7 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 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.