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

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 draft”, we and wp.org disagree 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

Frontend Gatekeeper shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 40+ 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

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #2 on merit, 4.7★ from 1597 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. 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 #2 1 too low 2 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #8 ↓2 6 too low 3 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 7 Okto Shareable Draft Previews 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 6 too high 8 Accordions – Responsive Accordion & FAQ Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Yatra – Travel Booking & Tour Operator Software 600+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 Tidy Draft Share – Shareable Draft Preview Links 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 ↑1 7 too high 11 Show Eventbrite Events – Event Feed for Eventbrite 800+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 PublishPress Shortlinks – The Link Manager for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 BundleBoss – Product Bundles, Mix and Match & Build a Box for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 15 SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 Document Engine – Document Library, PDF Viewer & Post to PDF 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Business Card Block – present your team and contact info in style 1K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓3 4 too low 18 Magic Copy for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too low 19 Ajax Filter Search 60+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Portfolio Block – The Ultimate Project & Portfolio Builder 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 Frontend Gatekeeper 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 NextXen Designer – Product Customizer for WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Previu – Visual Client Feedback for Elementor 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 Scanfully 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.