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

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 “sugar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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

Sugar Calendar Bookings Scheduling Appointments Lite shows at wp.org #2 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Sugar Calendar – Events Calendar, Event Tickets, and Events Management Platform 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #4 5 Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included 40K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more 2K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Event Calendar Newsletter 600+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #7 8 Transients Manager 20K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Sugar Calendar Bookings Scheduling Appointments Lite 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 Embed Privacy 10K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #24 ↓1 13 too low 12 AI Search for WooCommerce — Semantic & Live Search 80+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Jeero 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 WalletPassBuilder – Passes for Apple Wallet and Google Wallet — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 A Apiary Simple Syrup Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 WineLabel EU — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 FitNFO Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 Typography Stylist 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓3 19 Nutrition Info for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 How Many Coffees — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 HappenBoard: Events Calendar, Appointment Booking & RSVP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Beacon Events – Events Calendar with Recurring Events & Google Calendar Sync — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Sidcraft Restaurant for Sidcraft Commerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Shoplex – EU Compliance for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.