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← Rankings

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

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 “trees”, we and wp.org disagree 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

AP Family Trees shows at wp.org #1 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 30+ 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

WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 124 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #5 4 too low 2 Say What? 40K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 W WP-dTree 2K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Rs Christmas Trees – Holiday Decorations, Christmas Garlands & Falling Snow Effect 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too low 6 RootsPersona 400+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Genealogical Tree – Family Tree & Ancestry for WordPress 600+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 AP Family Trees 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10 Text: AI chatbot, live chat & ticketing for customer service 100+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓2 9 too low 11 Christmas Panda 400+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too low 12 Obituary Assistant 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 atec Dir Scan 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 W WPFrank Companion 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Tree-Nation for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 FunnelFork – Visual Quiz Builder for Product Recommendations & Decision Trees — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Bulk Export Import Images SEO Attributes 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 C Content Trees — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Disable Sales for WooCommerce 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too high 20 Embedded Posts 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓4 4 too high 21 Decision Tree Navigator 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓4 3 too low 22 MarkuClean – AI Text Cleaner & Unicode Fixer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓4 2 too high 23 LeadBot – AI Chat & Lead Generation for Your Website 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Events Calendar by FooEvents 4K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 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.