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

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 “stamps”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Sopro shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ 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

MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 302 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 When Last Login 40K+ · 4.7★ (37) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Property Hive Stamp Duty Calculator 800+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Property Hive 3K+ · 4.9★ (96) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 MyParcel 8K+ · 3.9★ (48) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Ebook Store 700+ · 4.4★ (60) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar 20K+ · 4.8★ (302) wp.org #17 ↑1 8 too low 10 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce – Challan 7K+ · 4.6★ (47) wp.org #11 12 PDF Invoices and Packing Slips For WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Min Max Step Quantity Limits Manager for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 AVIF Uploader – Upload, Display and Fix AVIF Images 4K+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #4 ↑1 10 too high 15 wp-greet 50+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 PDF Compressor & Watermark – iLovePDF 500+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Multicollab: Content Team Collaboration and Editorial Workflow 300+ · 3.7★ (10) wp.org #21 ↑2 4 too low 18 Instabot: Chatbot to Increase Conversions on WordPress. Try for Free 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Sopro 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Spotlightr – Secure Video Hosting for WordPress, Courses & LearnDash 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 AI Featured Image 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 TNC FlipBook 3D – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Diller Loyalty 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 Reviewer 2 Academic Rejection Stamps & Verdict Widgets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 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.