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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “signature pad”

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 “signature pad”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

GM Digital Signature for Wpforms shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Digital Signature For Contact Form 7 5K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #1 2 WP Forms Signature Contract Add-On 800+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #2 3 Signature Add-On for Gravity Forms 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Digital Signature Checkout For WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Cool FormKit Lite – Advanced Form Builder for Elementor 20K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Dynamic Time 200+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Ninja Forms Signature Contract Add-On 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Order Signature for WooCommerce 100+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Electronic Signature Add-on for Fluent Forms 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 SurveyJS: Drag & Drop Form Builder 500+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Digital Signature For Gravity Forms 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Signature Field With Contact Form 7 300+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Electronic Signature Add-on for Forminator 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Divine Agreement System 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 Digital Signature for eCommerce Checkout 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Sign PDF Waiver for Contact Form 7 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Lead Generation Form – Form Builder, Contact Form, Survey & Inquiry Forms 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 PO Signature Field for Contact Form 7 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 MerchantKits Document Signatures — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Yeekit – Signature Field for Gravity Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 signwpdf PDF Sign & Fill 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 NgSurvey – Powerful, feature rich self-hosted surveys 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Digital Signature Addon for Contact Form 7 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓4 1 too low 24 GM Digital Signature for Wpforms 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.