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

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 “starttls”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP SMTP Mailer – SMTP7 8K+ · 5.0★ (115) wp.org #1 2 0 Day Analytics 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Wonderful SMTP Mailer and Log 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 AHA Mail SMTP 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Emerge Mail – SMTP, Newsletters & Email Marketing 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 WP Mail SMTP SendGrid Edition 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 SMTPify — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Volixta Support – Helpdesk, Tickets & Customer Portal — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑4 5 too low 9 MultiMailer 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 Process2IT Forms Mailer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 G Gmcfuerte SMTP Transport — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Vijay’s SMTP Connector for Zoho Mail — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Mansoor SMTP for SendByte — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 SMTP Senpai — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 VuloMail – SMTP, Email Logs & SMS Notifications 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 SSF SMTP Mailer – Email Setup, Sender Settings & Test Emails — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 onesend — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 Daninger's SMTP for Amazon SES — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 TechWizard Packing Video Link for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 SignEmail SMTP & DNS Diagnostic — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 UWH SMTP Connect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 WakeMyCart – Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 S SMTP Form Master — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Greenskeeper — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.