Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “simple note”

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 “simple note”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

Simple Note shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 500+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #2 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too low 11 Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Simple Comment Editing 2K+ · 4.8★ (55) wp.org #17 ↑6 3 too low 15 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too low 16 Simple Revisions Delete 10K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #23 ↓9 7 too low 17 Genesis Simple Hooks 20K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Simple Post Notes 9K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #14 ↓5 5 too high 20 Genesis Simple Share 10K+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Simple GDPR Cookie Compliance 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too high 23 SRS Simple Hits Counter 8K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Simple Note 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓5 9 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.