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

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 “spell”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 2 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

Premmerce Product Search for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 5231 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 WProofreader spell & grammar check plugin for WordPress 4K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Premmerce 400+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Address Autocomplete Anything – Google Address Autocomplete for Any Form 900+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #6 7 PublishPress Checklists: Pre-Publishing Approval Checklist – Validate Post Requirements 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 Just Writing 200+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #24 ↓1 14 too low 11 Premmerce Product Search for WooCommerce 800+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 M Magic the Gathering Card Tooltips 100+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 Time.now Clock Widget 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 BD Address Fields for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑7 2 too high 16 Silktide 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too high 17 Namoman Korean Speller — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 Spellmatic — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 mazdek AI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Softlinkster Semantic Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 SEOMedic Simple Grammar Checker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too high 22 Lipyantar Slugs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too high 23 Gallery 5cript — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 MarkDown Block — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.