Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “stack overflow”

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 “stack overflow”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 3 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

Socicon shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 171 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Login Widget With Shortcode 5K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #1 2 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 bbPress Voting 400+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.7★ (497) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 Team Members – A WordPress Team Plugin with Gallery, Grid, Carousel, Slider, Table, List, and More 2K+ · 4.7★ (91) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic 10K+ · 4.4★ (1053) wp.org #16 ↑1 10 too low 7 GS Books Showcase – Display Books in Grid, Slider & More | Library for WordPress 500+ · 4.8★ (42) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #19 ↓4 11 too low 9 Solid Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Video Testimonials & Customer Reviews 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Album Gallery for Photo & Video 4K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 M Make Filename Lowercase 1K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Premium Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Patterns & Templates 2K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 Socicon 200+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Quick Download Button 1K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Block Editor: Reverse Columns on Mobile 700+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 Wbcom Designs – BuddyPress Member Reviews 200+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 FrontBlocks Site Tools 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Newsroom OS – Google Discover, Google News, Schema & Editorial Workflow 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑2 6 too high 21 FloatySocial – Awesome Social Floating Sidebar 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Kenta Blocks – Responsive Blocks and block templates library 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too high 23 Arts Horizontal Scroll for Elementor 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 Lauryn Widget Suite for Elementor — · 5.0★ (1) 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.