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

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

Anti Fake Orders & IP Blocker shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More 20K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #1 2 Smart Auto Upload Images – Import External Images 5K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #2 3 Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too low 4 Editoria11y Accessibility Checker 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Swipe Slider – Make dynamic slider with solid, gradient, or image background 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Frontman – AI Website Editor 90+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 ↓1 10 too low 7 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Aplazame 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 5 too high 9 Search and Replace for Block Editor 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 Text Replace – Find and Replace WordPress Strings 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Toolkit for LearnDash LMS – Quiz Themes, Analytics & Answer Control 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓7 8 too low 13 Sigma Search & Replace 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓2 6 too high 14 Jamie’s Header Effects 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑2 15 PhantomGuard 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 DevDome Affiliate Manager: Amazon Affiliate Plugin for Amazon Associates 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Gredich Smooth Scroll 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 Rakuten Viber Click to Chat 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 Easybility – Visual Accessibility Tools 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 AccessiBar — Accessibility Toolbar 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 Lucid Search & Replace – Safe Database Find and Replace with Preview and Undo 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Proactive Site Advisor – Privacy‑First Anomaly Alerts — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Nokko RSS Aggregator — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Anti Fake Orders & IP Blocker 300+ · 1.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓1 14 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.