Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “trigger warning”

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 “trigger warning”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Build Trigger for Gatsby shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 50+ 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

Download Monitor places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 525 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 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #5 6 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #7 ↑5 1 too low 7 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too high 8 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #13 ↓5 4 too low 10 WP Webhooks – Automate repetitive tasks by creating powerful automation workflows directly within WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #14 ↑5 1 too low 14 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too low 18 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #24 ↓6 6 too low 19 Automated Stock Update Triggers for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓2 11 too high 20 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #22 ↓8 2 too low 21 Debug 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑1 10 too high 23 Build Trigger for Gatsby 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 8 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.