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

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 “shoes”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

WPC Product Size Chart for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpsellWP – Upsell and Related Products Offers for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 149 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Discount Rules for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1395) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #4 ↑6 1 too low 4 WPC Frequently Bought Together for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (84) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Datafeedr Product Sets 4K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 MKL Product Configurator for WooCommerce – 2D & 3D Live Preview 2K+ · 4.8★ (42) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 UpsellWP – Upsell and Related Products Offers for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (149) wp.org #21 ↑2 12 too low 10 AI Popup Builder & Popup Maker by OptiMonk 3K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 Flexible PDF Coupons – Gift Cards & Vouchers for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 YITH WooCommerce Waitlist 3K+ · 3.2★ (26) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 Sizor Product Size Chart For WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 WPC Product Size Chart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 Dynamic Pricing and Discount Rules 1K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 WPC Product Quantity for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 Popcustoms – Print on demand & dropshipping, Free Personalizer 100+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 SizeSync – Size Chart & Size Guide for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Instant Search – Turn Search Into Sales 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Inkedjoy-POD Dropshipping 200+ · 3.0★ (5) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Run Log 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 WEARFITS Shoes Tryon — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Product Size Charts Plugin for WooCommerce, Size Table, Size Chart Popup – WPBean 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Premmerce Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 100+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 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.