wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “string”
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 “string”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
String Replacer shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 642 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.
String locator 100K+ · 4.6★ (125)
wp.org #1 2 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #2 3 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #3 4 
Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453)
wp.org #4 5 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too low 6 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #11 5 too low 7 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #13 6 too low 8 
Say What? 40K+ · 4.3★ (92)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too low 10 
Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419)
wp.org #18 ↑3 8 too low 11 
301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578)
wp.org #19 ↑3 8 too low 12 LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (642)
wp.org #23 ↓3 11 too low 13 
WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339)
wp.org #22 ↓3 9 too low 14 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107)
wp.org #20 ↓4 5 too low 16 
CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237)
wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too high 18 
WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138)
wp.org #21 ↓4 3 too low 19 
WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #5 14 too high 20 
URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37)
wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 
Override String Translations 1K+ · 3.9★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #6 15 too high 22 
Text Replace – Find and Replace WordPress Strings 300+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23 String Replacer 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑1 16 too high 24 F FG Fix Serialized Strings 100+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.