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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “test gateway”

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 “test gateway”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

I

Ranked above its merit

Inspire Commerce Gateway for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Import and export users and customers places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 259 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #1 2 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #2 3 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #3 4 Parsi Date | بسته فارسی ساز وردپرس و ووکامرس پارسی دیت 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Secure Gateway for Authorize.net and WooCommerce by Pledged Plugins 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Custom Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 WC Order Test 6K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Piraeus Bank WooCommerce Payment Gateway 3K+ · 3.9★ (35) wp.org #23 ↓8 10 too low 14 Eway Payment Gateway 800+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Online Payments with iK Pay Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 WooCommerce Payfast Gateway 30K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17 افزونه پرداخت امن زرین‌پال برای ووکامرس (ZarinPal for WooCommerce) 60K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 I Inspire Commerce Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Paysera Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 2.9★ (16) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Payphone – Payment Gateway Button 2K+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Pledged Plugins PCI Gateway for NMI and WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 22 Conekta Payment Gateway 2K+ · 3.5★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Peach Payments Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Paydibs Gateway for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 10 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.