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

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 “snapshots”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

SnapShots shows at wp.org #2 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 146 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014) wp.org #1 2 Smart COD for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too low 3 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #17 ↑2 9 too low 9 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 NinjaScanner – Virus & Malware scan 40K+ · 4.0★ (36) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker 10K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (61) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too high 14 Database Reset 10K+ · 4.5★ (77) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 SnapShots 20+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #2 15 too high 18 VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer 1K+ · 3.8★ (8) wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too high 21 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Squeeze – Browser-Based Image Compression & WebP Converter (No API, No Limits) 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 LLMs.txt Curator 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Site Extensions Snapshot 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.