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

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 “sweepstake”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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.

Buried gem

Contests by Rewards Fuel places #7 on merit, 4.4★ from 65 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SweepWidget – Giveaway, Contest, Sweepstakes, Competition & Photo Contest Plugin 100+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #1 2 Giveaways and Contests by RafflePress – Get More Website Traffic, Email Subscribers, and Social Followers 20K+ · 3.9★ (43) wp.org #2 3 Social Boost: Giveaways, Instant win and Contests. Grow followers, shares, subscribers, traffic, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #3 4 Gratisfaction- Loyalty, Rewards , Referral, Birthday and Giveaway Program 600+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #4 5 WinRocket Raffle and Giveaway Campaigns for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #5 6 Gratisfaction- Contests Giveaways Referral Loyalty Rewards and Birthdays Program 20+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #6 7 Contests by Rewards Fuel 40+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Run Contests, Raffles, and Giveaways with ContestsWP 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Woobox 900+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 UncommonGood Donation Widget — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Pay4All WIN — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Socialman – The Ultimate Giveaway & Contest Plugin for WordPress 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Dot Embed 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Click Counter and Heat Maps (Free) 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 No Frills Prize Draw Competitions 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 L Lottery Number Supplier 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 17 S Sweepstakes app 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Viral Loops WP Integration 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 A Ads Campaigns 10+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 S Sweepstakes 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #20

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.