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

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

Synced Patterns for Themes shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 775 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Fabrica Synced Pattern Instances 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Mailchimp for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.0★ (726) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #19 12 too low 8 Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 AppMySite – WordPress & WooCommerce Mobile App Builder (No-Code Android & iOS App Maker) 7K+ · 4.3★ (138) wp.org #9 10 Media Cloud Sync 1K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Synced Pattern Popups 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Patreon WordPress 3K+ · 3.4★ (55) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 WPC Product Options for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Gleap for WordPress & WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Printify for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.8★ (37) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Pattern Wrangler – Manage Block Patterns and Pattern Categories 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 CiviCRM Profile Sync 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Connect CF7 to HubSpot – Contact Form 7 CRM Integration 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Synced Patterns for Themes 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑2 12 too high 23 Antispam for Elementor Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Outrank 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.