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

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 “sweet”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Funbutler Booking System shows at wp.org #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 100+ 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

BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot places #1 on merit, 4.8★ from 515 reviews, but shows at wp.org #5. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #5 4 too low 2 YayCurrency – WooCommerce Multi-Currency Switcher 7K+ · 4.8★ (114) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 One Click Upsell Funnel for Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 W WP Delete User Accounts 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 BoldGrid Easy SEO – Simple and Effective SEO 40K+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Checkout Countdown for WooCommerce – Boost Conversions & Reduce Cart Abandonment 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 Sweet Map 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Sweet Energy Efficiency 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 WP Film Studio – WordPress Movie Maker/Production Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 10 WC Booster 700+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Sweet Analytics WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 S Sweet Sharmin Preloader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 BotPenguin – Generative AI Chatbot with Live Chat & ChatGPT 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 Funbutler Booking System 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 W WPS Survey Form Pro 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 rankd — Content Quality Scorer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Help Metric Article Helpful Feedback 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Exactplay Spin – Demo Slot Games — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 PDF Invoice and Packing Slip for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Sonic Pixel Product Spin for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Webkoding ConfigMate – Product Configurator for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 SiteByter Image Optimizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 VariantFlow – Lightweight A/B Testing Block — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 H Home Sweet Home — · 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.