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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “training log”

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

Ranked above its merit

Forge AI Bot Log – Block AI Bots, Crawler Detection & Verification shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 90+ 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

WP Booking System – Booking Calendar places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 344 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #1 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 3 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #5 6 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (524) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes 10K+ · 4.8★ (393) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 WP Booking System – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (344) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Discussion Board – WordPress Forum Plugin 1K+ · 4.6★ (43) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Run Log 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 16 too high 20 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Forge AI Bot Log – Block AI Bots, Crawler Detection & Verification 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 AI Scrape Protect 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 OneButton – Log 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Jotform – AI Chatbot 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.