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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “show user avatar”

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 “show user avatar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1,539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 2 One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1,281) wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 4 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1,282) wp.org #6 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 5 ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 6 WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) wp.org #5 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 7 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #10 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 10 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1,539) wp.org #19 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 9 places below merit 11 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #11 ↓6 12 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #14 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 13 UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #16 ↓4 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 14 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #21 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 15 RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459) wp.org #23 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 8 places below merit 16 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #13 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 17 User Profile Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #17 ↓4 18 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #24 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 19 Advanced User Avatar | Custom Profile Picture Uploader for WordPress, WooCommerce, and BuddyPress 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 10 places above merit 20 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 WP User Profiles 200+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #22 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 22 User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 wp.org ranks it 14 places above merit 23 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓6 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit 24 Show user avatar 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.