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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “series module”

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 “series module”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

MasterStudy LMS Divi Modules shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Seriously Simple Podcasting places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 330 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 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Advanced Sermons 1K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Customer Engagement System – Popup Builder, Forms, CRM & Email Marketing Automation 9K+ · 4.5★ (340) wp.org #3 4 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 ShopBuilder – WooCommerce Builder For Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #5 6 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 F FeedWordPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (61) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #24 ↓9 16 too low 9 Toocheke Companion 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Church Admin 900+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Campi Moduli Italiani 400+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Event Koi Lite – Events Calendar, Event Management, RSVP, and Tickets 60+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 DoubleScale CRM | All-in-One CRM – Sales, Multi-Channel Marketing, Newsletter, Booking, Helpdesk, Automation, MCP & More 80+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 Contasimple 200+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #16 ↑3 1 too high 18 Bit CRM: Sales CRM Manage Lead, Contact, Deal, Invoice, Client Portal & Collect Payment 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 MasterStudy LMS Divi Modules 200+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Radius Booking – Appointment Booking Calendar & Scheduling for Services & Events 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 SmartyPress AI Engine — Free AI Engine for Content Generation 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 AC’s Savings Calculator 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 9 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.