Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tag1”

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 “tag1”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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.

E

Ranked above its merit

eSauti shows at wp.org #7 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its — 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CodePeople Post Map for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.2★ (31) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Microposts – Microblogging post type 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Include Mastodon Feed 800+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 e2payments-wp Payment for Woocommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 1 1ON1 URL REDIRECTS 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 T TR Post Slider Widget 100+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Sirve – Simple Directory Listing 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 P Posts By Tag 1K+ · 3.8★ (15) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 S Scolta AI Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 B Bake Posts 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 E eSauti — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Jinx Fast-Cache — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 D Delete Post 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Mamba Cache for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 J JSON REST API (WP API) Categories and Tags 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 N NextGen NivoSlider 200+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Shortcode Directives — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Quick Bulk Tags Creator 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 W WPRestApiExtensions — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 W WPRestCache — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 W WP Pinboard 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 M MultiTags 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 T Tag Sticky Post 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 W WParty 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.