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

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 “spl”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

SolPress WooCommerce Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

BackUpWordPress places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 1373 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 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #3 4 BackUpWordPress 80K+ · 4.7★ (1373) wp.org #22 18 too low 5 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #18 13 too low 6 Web3 – Crypto wallet Login & NFT token gating 100+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 MyCryptoCheckout – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 100+ altcoins for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #19 12 too low 8 Some Plus Report Post 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 9 Cryptocurrency (Token), Launchpad (Presale), ICO & IDO, Airdrop by TokenICO 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Torod – The smart shipping and delivery portal for e-shops and retailers 60+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Nginx Cache Purge Preload 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 SKT Addons for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Crypto Wallet Payment for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Saudi Address Pro 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 IronixPay Crypto Payment Gateway for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 WPBetterCodeHighlighting — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 SkyeGate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 SmartShip – The ideal entrepreneur destination for shipping solutions 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 ZeroBeep Crypto Gateway for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 SolPress WooCommerce Payment Gateway 10+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 CryptoStack Donations — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 citelayer® – Agent Readiness | MCP Abilities, Schema.org 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Queryn – AI-powered Product Search for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Maileon for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.