Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “smart map”

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 “smart map”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 6 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

Smart Send shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #10 ↑3 5 too low 6 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too low 7 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #20 13 too low 8 Smart Search & Product Filter for WooCommerce – Searchanise 900+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #15 ↓8 6 too low 10 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 WPGraphQL Smart Cache 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 Smart Marketing SMS and Newsletters Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (154) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Smart Online Order for Clover 1K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #18 19 Smart Send 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑2 12 too high 20 WP Smart Import : Import any XML File to WordPress 900+ · 3.9★ (12) wp.org #8 ↑2 12 too high 21 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Smart Brands for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 PixelParade Smart Purge for Breeze Cache 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.