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

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 “slice”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

HappyVR – Virtual Tour Builder & 360 Panorama Viewer shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 70+ 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

Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons places #6 on merit, 4.5★ from 82 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #1 2 Sliced Invoices – WordPress Invoice Plugin 4K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP Optin Wheel – Gamified Optin Email Marketing Tool for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Kustom Checkout for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.5★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Lucky Wheel for WooCommerce – Spin a Sale 1K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 GutSlider – All in One Slider and Carousel Blocks for Gutenberg 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Flipbook PDF Viewer & Embedder 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Porsline 300+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 WinRocket Raffle and Giveaway Campaigns for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Lucky Wheel Giveaway 400+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 HappyVR – Virtual Tour Builder & 360 Panorama Viewer 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 MotionKit – Visual GSAP Animation Builder for Elementor, Divi, Bricks & More 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑4 4 too low 15 Sitecarry Backup & Migration – Restore, Clone & Cloud Backups 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑4 5 too low 16 Deskmode Suite 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Polanger Admin Suite – Secure, Control & Customize WordPress Admin 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 Spin Wheel – Lucky Wheel, Giveaway & Coupon Popup 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 Spin Wheel 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Monobank WP Payment 1K+ · 2.5★ (8) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Ingenio Notice Inbox – Hide Admin Notices & Dashboard Notifications 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Restora 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Menu Ghost 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓5 1 too low 24 Ultimate Push Notifications 50+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #21 3 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.