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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “status code”

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 “status code”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 6 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

Order Status Control for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4940 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #1 2 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #2 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Captcha Code 100K+ · 3.9★ (35) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #5 ↑4 1 too high 7 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #20 ↑1 11 too low 10 Scheduled & Automatic Order Status Controller for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 WP Coder – Insert & Manage Code Snippets 10K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #13 14 Advanced Custom Stock Status 8K+ · 4.2★ (37) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Post Status Notifier Lite 700+ · 3.9★ (17) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Order Status Control for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 10 too high 19 N Ni WooCommerce Custom Order Status 2K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (32) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Additional Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Pending Status 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Discontinued Product Stock Status for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) 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.