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

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

Split Order on checkout pro for Woocommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Redis Object Cache places #4 on merit, 4.5★ from 179 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #1 2 Boei – AI Chatbot, Live Chat & 50+ Channels 900+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 FormLift for Keap (Legacy) Web Forms 300+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #22 18 too low 5 SQLite Object Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #23 18 too low 6 SiteLock Security – WP Hardening, Login Security & Malware Scans 1K+ · 3.4★ (14) wp.org #6 7 Avify 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 KBucket: Your Curated Content in WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 ABMsense – Visitor Identification for B2B Pipeline Growth 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Automatic Multilingual AI Translation by Autoglot 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 Visa Acceptance Solutions (SMB) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Job Manager by JobScore 10+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Split Order by category for Woocommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Chatonbo – AI Chatbot 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 301 WordPress Redirect Plugin 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Volumetric shipping for Woocommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 SPCX AI Visibility Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 SocialPilot – Social Media Auto Post, Management & Scheduling 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Split Backorder for Woocommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Manfi Expense Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 KnowDesk AI Support Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Split Order on checkout pro for Woocommerce 10+ · 2.0★ (4) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Split Order By Warehouse for Woocommerce — · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Add Twitter Pixel for Twitter ads 100+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.