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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “staging label”

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 “staging label”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

AI shows at wp.org #6 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Switching places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 238 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #1 2 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #2 3 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #3 4 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 6 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration 40K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Restricted Site Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Starter Sites & Templates by Neve 100K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Assistant – Every Day Productivity Apps 4K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools 30K+ · 4.6★ (535) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Hyyan Integration for WooCommerce and Polylang 8K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #17 18 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Oliver POS – WooCommerce POS for iPhone, iPad & Android 700+ · 4.2★ (90) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Remote Website Management by Watchful 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Simple Shipping Labels for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 YITH WooCommerce Subscription 6K+ · 3.0★ (46) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Text Replace – Find and Replace WordPress Strings 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) 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.