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

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 “tcp”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

PowerSEC – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Login Security & Backup shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10+ 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

Autoptimize places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 1428 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 External files in Media Library 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Mailster WordPress Newsletter Plugin 7K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #3 4 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #23 ↓1 19 too low 5 ATR Server Status 100+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #20 ↓1 15 too low 6 Hey Trisha — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 MSCache Varnish Purge 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 CloudScale Backup & Restore 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Dynamic Post – AI Content – White Paper – Peer Review – Tax & Accounting Sites 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Accordions – Responsive Accordion & FAQ Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓1 14 too low 11 LocalFonts 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 PowerSEC – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Login Security & Backup 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Speed in China | Test Website Speed from Mainland China | GFW Optimization & Google Fonts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 DigitalDot Caché Manager for Redis — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Anonympins Bot Mitigation with Proof-of-Work — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 IranCheck – ایران‌چک — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Website Checkups — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 SpoofLens Fraud Check — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 eStorePOS – Point of Sale (POS) for WordPress eCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 NS Chat — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 InbxGuard – Email Deliverability, SPF, DKIM, DMARC Checker & Email Logs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 UptimeMonster Site Monitor 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Spamify – Elastic Spam Shield — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 YoPingMe – Uptime Monitoring & Status Pages — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 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.