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← Rankings

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

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 “subcategories”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

MindCat shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Echo Knowledge Base – Documentation, FAQs, Chat & Smart Search places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 124 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 No Category Base (WPML) 100K+ · 4.5★ (34) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Category and Subcategory List Widget 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (96) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Echo Knowledge Base – Documentation, FAQs, Chat & Smart Search 10K+ · 4.9★ (124) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 CSV Importer 3K+ · 4.2★ (28) wp.org #8 9 Product Category Slider for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 annasta Filters for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #10 11 Collapsing Categories 4K+ · 4.1★ (57) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Ultimate Store Kit – Store Builder Addons for Elementor, WooCommerce Store Builder, EDD Store Builder 3K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Related Products – Create Upsells, Cross-sells, and Product Recommendations for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Bulky – Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 VS Knowledge Base 300+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 WPC Grouped Product for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 CSV Importer Plus for ACF 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Dynamic AJAX Product Filters for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #19 20 FoxyShop 70+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 MindCat 100+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Catalog PDF Export for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 CM Curated List Manager – Effortless tool for link management 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 CodingBunny Image Optimizer 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.