wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “theme blvd”

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 “theme blvd”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20. 12 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Theme Blvd Layout Builder 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #2 1 too low 2 T Theme Blvd String Swap 100+ · 5.0★ (2) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #1 1 too high 3 T Theme Blvd WPML Bridge 200+ · 5.0★ (2) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Simple Analytics 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too low 5 T Theme Blvd Favicon 100+ · 5.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #3 2 too high 6

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.