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← Rankings

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

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 “toolbox”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 of the top 20. 5 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

XHTheme AI Toolbox shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ 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

Groups – Memberships and Access Control places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 382 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #1 2 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 QuickWebP – WebP & AVIF Image Optimizer, Compression & SEO for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #18 ↑2 14 too low 5 WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 S Sydney Toolbox 50K+ · 2.3★ (15) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Website Toolbox Forum 70+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Backup, Restore and Migrate your sites with XCloner 10K+ · 4.2★ (129) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 TNC Toolbox: Web Performance 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #21 ↑1 11 too low 11 REST API Toolbox 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12 Remote Website Management by Watchful 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 ↑1 5 too high 13 Toolbox for Asgaros Forum 900+ · 5.0★ (77) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 forumAttachments for bbPress 6K+ · 4.3★ (26) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 Widgets Control 800+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 GD bbPress Tools 1K+ · 3.8★ (24) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17 Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #22 ↑2 5 too low 18 atec Debug 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 XHTheme AI Toolbox 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 A Apex Digital Toolbox 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too high 21 toolbox百宝箱 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 crouton 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too high 23 BMLT WordPress Satellite 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Medias ToolBox 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.