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

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 “spacious”, 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

Spacious Toolkit shows at wp.org #2 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Booking Calendar places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 657 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 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (86) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Protección de datos – RGPD 7K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Booking Calendar 40K+ · 4.8★ (657) wp.org #22 ↓2 16 too low 7 Starter Templates & Sites Pack by ThemeGrill 70K+ · 4.7★ (197) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 Spacious Toolkit 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 ↓1 6 too high 9 SheetFusion – Sync Google Sheets Into Tables. No Row Limits, No API Keys. 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 Occupancy Plan 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 MarqueeFlow 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Credits Shortcode & Block 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 Aticolor Palettes – Color Palette Manager for Designers 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 The 9 Dollar Menu Valet 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Ruhler Community Resource Directory 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Advanced Taxonomy Manager 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Rent Fetch 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3 7 too low 18 fraew Category Posts List — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Easy Custom Registration Fields — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Hunter Dock – Mobile Bottom Navigation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Resourcemanager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 DITS Coming Soon & Maintenance Pages — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 AccessIQ — WCAG Accessibility Scanner, Heatmap & Behavior Analytics — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Product Preview for WooCommerce 50+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #23 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.