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

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 “tracing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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 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

oik bwtrace shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 20+ 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

weForms – Easy Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder For WordPress places #3 on merit, 4.5★ from 111 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 DecaLog 1K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #1 2 WPify Woo – Withdrawal, CRN/VAT, QR payments, Heureka and more for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 weForms – Easy Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder For WordPress 10K+ · 4.5★ (111) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Lead Form Builder & Contact Form 8K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 DebugPress: Debugger in Popup 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Sentry for WordPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #23 ↓2 17 too low 7 oik 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 TrackFree – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking 100+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 5centsCDN – WordPress CDN Plugin 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Admin Code Search 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 REST API Route Tester 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 WPGraphQL IDE 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 R+L Carriers Shipping Rates for WooCommerce 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Wxs Text Watermarking 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Fastly 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Open Studios Image to Vector Converter — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Tangleroot Dependency Mapper — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 oik bwtrace 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Gobbert SVG Studio — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 jsonyo — JSON Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 2Download Connector for 2DL Hosted Checkout — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Voxis – Text to Speech, Audio Reader & Voice Synthesizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 AllTerrain Photo Editor – Crop, Resize, Paint & Photo Filters 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 HarborCache – Object Cache with Redis — · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.