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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “semantic ui”

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 “semantic ui”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

WPGraphQL for ACF shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ 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

Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 158 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 LinkBoss – Semantic AI Internal Linking 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Faview – Virtual Reviews for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #6 ↑3 7 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (150) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 Flexy Breadcrumb 10K+ · 4.7★ (20) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 AI Search for WooCommerce — Semantic & Live Search 80+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 Cooked – Recipe Management 3K+ · 3.9★ (90) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 Bulk Auto Image Alt Text (Alt tag, Alt attribute) optimizer (image SEO) 10K+ · 4.2★ (111) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18 AI Chatbot & Semantic Search: ChatGPT Answers From Your Content 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓1 10 too high 19 Builderius – Landing Page Builder + Dynamic Templates 200+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Header Footer Builder for Elementor 30K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 Fast Cart – Ultralight Ajax Side Cart for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 CubeWP Framework 3K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Scry Search: Meilisearch for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 WPGraphQL for ACF 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.