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

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 “talk”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 of the top 20. 4 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

Lime Talk Live Chat shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 30+ 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

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too low 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too low 3 Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (820) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too low 5 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #16 ↑3 11 too low 6 Hyvor Talk – Comments, Newsletters, Memberships 90+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 ↓1 4 too high 7 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #10 ↑4 3 too low 8 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #22 ↓4 12 too low 11 Reusable Blocks Extended 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 Crisp – Live Chat and AI Chatbot 20K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Hand Talk 400+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #1 ↑1 12 too high 14 Get Use APIs – JSON Content Importer 5K+ · 4.9★ (78) wp.org #23 ↓6 9 too low 15 Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 morkva UA Shipping – Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, Rozetka, Nova Global 1K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Stickers for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Lime Talk Live Chat 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 16 too high 20 Affiliates WooCommerce Light 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 Optimization Detective 60K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Tiny Talk 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Pz-Talk 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 LIQUID BLOCKS – Slider, Carousel, Accordion 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.