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← Rankings

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

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 “summary”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Summary box for Wikipedia links shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Site Reviews places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 376 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Live Summary for Gravity Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #14 ↑4 4 too low 11 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #18 ↓9 6 too low 13 Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size 100K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #15 ↑5 16 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 WPSummarize – AI Summaries with key takeaways for your posts 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #22 ↓15 23 Contact Form 7 Submission Summary & PDF Print 300+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 Summary box for Wikipedia links 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑2 14 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.