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← Rankings

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

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 “swimming”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 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

WP Real Estate shows at wp.org #15 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Gym Builder – Class Timetable & Booking for Gyms, Fitness & Yoga Studios 100+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Bukza 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Achievements sports league 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Verse of the Day Widget for WP 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Younited Pay Payment Gateway 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Scoreboard UI 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 Playard — Sports Facility Booking System for Courts, Fields, Pitches, Venues and More 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑3 9 Swim Club Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 BookingDaddy – Booking & Appointment Made Bold, Easy, and Smart — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Chris’s Swim Training Progress and Evaluation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 12 Swimming Elements — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 Yardluma – Backyard Layout Visualiser — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 Live Sea Temperature Widget by SeaTempMap — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 15 C Custom Profile Filters for BuddyPress 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 ViveSol Inmo Connect – Real Estate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 LucrativeIT Driving School Management System — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 BookingFacil Reservations for Accommodations — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 TerraSuite – Estate Agency Software, Property Listings and Map Search — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 WP Real Estate 200+ · 2.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 Best Local SEO Tools, WordPress SEO Plugin 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 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.