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

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 previewer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

NEX-Forms ADD ON – Form Themes shows at wp.org #3 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 1K+ 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.

Buried gem

Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. places #5 on merit, 4.1★ from 284 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291) wp.org #1 2 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #2 3 NEX-Forms – Ultimate Forms Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.1★ (135) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Print My Blog – Print, PDF, & eBook Converter WordPress Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (115) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 Gutenberg Block Editor Toolkit – EditorsKit 20K+ · 4.6★ (176) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 AppPresser – Mobile App Framework 900+ · 3.7★ (53) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Easy Integration for Dropbox – File Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Ultimate Multisite – WordPress Multisite SaaS & WaaS Platform 80+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 NEX-Forms ADD ON – Form Themes 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 F Fancy Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 200+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Note – A live edit text widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 S Simple customize 70+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 NEX-Forms ADD ON – Digital Signatures 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 NEX-Forms ADD ON – Zapier Integration 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Color Theme Manager for Divi — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 D DemoDeck — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Rahkar Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 BaseCloud Boost 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Customizer Browser History 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 SmallPict: Compress Images, Convert to WebP & AVIF, Offload & CDN — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Melonpan Block – Code 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Paperlit 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 The Typography 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.