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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ssl validator”

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 “ssl validator”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

jwp-a11y shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Product Options and Price Calculation Formulas for WooCommerce – Uni CPO places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 79 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #1 2 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #10 7 too low 4 Instapage Plugin 4K+ · 4.8★ (218) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 Whitespace Fixer for XML Sitemap 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Product Options and Price Calculation Formulas for WooCommerce – Uni CPO 1K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 CapiFlow – Conversions API (CAPI) Tracking for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Dynamics 365 Integration 500+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Bucky SEO Tools 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 S Social Photo Fetcher 1K+ · 3.7★ (12) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 PayPlus Payment Gateway 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Visma for WooCommerce 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Royal AI Firewall 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 MCP Content Manager Lite 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Absolute Relative URLs 900+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 StaticForge for Cloudflare Pages 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Blaze AI Discovery for WooCommerce 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Preflight Handoff Audits 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Webmastery Site Toolkit for MCP 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 VDot Crypto Gateway for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Sakurato Crypto Portfolio Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Customer Cloud Gallery – Google Drive & Dropbox Image Gallery 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 jwp-a11y 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.