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

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 “sunrise”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Vampire Character Manager shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Weather Widget Pro 1K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Weather Atlas Widget 8K+ · 4.1★ (41) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 AboveWP Admin Dark Mode 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Divine Astro 100+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too low 6 Under The Weather 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 S SolarDawn Sunrise & Sunset Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Muslim Prayer Times 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Force Admin Color Scheme 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 XTX Integration for Netatmo 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Genolve – AI Business Graphics, Images & Video 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 Restore Old Admin Colors 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Onyx Dark Mode Switcher 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Lili Business Banking 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 HB Jewish Calendar 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too low 16 Onionify – Onion Service for WP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 SunnyTracker Widgets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Pending Comments Highlighter 10+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Smart Masjid Prayer Timings — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Vampire Character Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 APIFreaks — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Onion Service by Adam Szokol — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 MultiWeather — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Clandevs — WooCommerce Product Filter — · 0.0★ (0) 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.