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← Rankings

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

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 “tidied”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 19 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 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

Cubit Calculator Number Grid shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its — 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

Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library places #3 on merit, 4.6★ from 779 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 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #1 2 Resize Image After Upload 80K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #13 11 too low 3 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #24 21 too low 4 Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #21 17 too low 5 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #23 18 too low 6 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #16 ↑1 10 too low 7 Project Pages – Portfolio Template, Portfolio Maker, Work Context Explorer! 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Genesis Simple Share 10K+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #17 ↑1 8 too low 10 Photoswipe Masonry 6K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #19 ↑1 9 too low 11 Maintenance Redirect 10K+ · 4.9★ (24) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Appointment Booking Calendar & Scheduling – Zoe Booking 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 ↑1 10 too high 13 Local Business Schema Lite 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #20 ↓4 6 too low 15 Maestro: The Inline Admin Menu Editor 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 12 too high 16 AI Author Personas By WPRaptor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Adeniyikayode Nigerian Postcode for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 StackVane Video Import for Divi — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Plugnect Store Admin for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Freexya – Cookie Consent, SMTP, Redirects & Security Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 TIO – The Image Optimizer – Smart Image Compression & Optimization, Built for the Web — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 DeepFA AI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Cubit Calculator Number Grid — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 STM Smart Checkout for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 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.