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

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 “shareable”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Okto Shareable Draft Previews shows at wp.org #2 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 60+ 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

Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 248 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #1 2 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3 GravityExport Lite for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too low 6 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #13 ↓6 7 too low 7 Vimeography: Vimeo Video Gallery WordPress Plugin 5K+ · 4.5★ (122) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 Core Framework 10K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248) wp.org #20 ↑1 9 too low 12 Add to Calendar Button 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 WP eCards – Branded Digital Greeting Cards 300+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Accordions – Responsive Accordion & FAQ Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #8 ↑4 6 too high 15 Okto Shareable Draft Previews 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 13 too high 16 Events Search & Filter Bar for The Events Calendar 3K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18 SurveyX Builder – Survey, Poll, Quiz & Feedback Form 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 EqualWeb Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 20 Share Cart for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 WishCraft – Multiple & Shareable Wishlists 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 TNC FlipBook 3D – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Tidy Draft Share – Shareable Draft Preview Links 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 CartLink Generator for WooCommerce — Direct Checkout & Share Cart Links 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 6 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.