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

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 “shot”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Secondary Product Image for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ 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

Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 640 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 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Advanced Free Shipping for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.8★ (122) wp.org #3 ↑9 4 Pop-up 10K+ · 4.7★ (86) wp.org #4 5 Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6 Quick Adsense 20K+ · 3.9★ (74) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Album Gallery for Photo & Video 4K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Media Hygiene: Remove or Delete Unused Images and More! 4K+ · 4.2★ (41) wp.org #8 9 MoreConvert Wishlist for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too low 10 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Advanced iFrame 40K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #12 ↑3 1 too low 12 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #16 ↑3 4 too low 13 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #19 ↓6 6 too low 14 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Gallery Block by Galleryberg: Lightbox with Tiles, Masonry, Square, & Justified Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 Rearrange Products for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #20 ↓6 4 too low 17 ImagePress – Front-End Photo Uploads & Member Galleries 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too high 18 FV Flowplayer Video Player 10K+ · 4.4★ (90) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Super Advent Calendar 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Thumbnails and Featured Images 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 SNORDIAN's H5PxAPIkatchu 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Image Quality Control | Still BE 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too high 23 E-kassa.fi POS-system 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Secondary Product Image for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑2 10 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.