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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “twenty eleven theme”

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 “twenty eleven theme”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20. 2 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

OXP Breaking News Ticker shows at wp.org #7 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin places #8 on merit, 3.8★ from 277 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1198) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Remove "Powered by WordPress" 20K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2466) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #4 5 Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Gallery by BestWebSoft – Customizable Image and Photo Galleries for WordPress 10K+ · 4.0★ (158) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin 2K+ · 3.8★ (277) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9 Optima Express IDX 10K+ · 3.2★ (45) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 Squad Modules Lite – Free Divi 5 & Divi 4 Modules for Divi Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 Styleguide – Custom Fonts and Colors 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 OXP Breaking News Ticker 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 5 too high 13 Blaminhor Essentials – Redirects, Broken Links, Favicon, Maintenance, Classic Editor & 21 More 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14 Molongui Post Contributors: Multi-Role Contributor Attribution 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too high 15 Post Kinds for IndieWeb in Block Themes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑2 16 SeeOnWall – Wall Art Preview for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑2 17 MenuVerse – Mobile Bottom Menu & App-Style Navigation Bar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑2 18 AstroWay – Astrology, Birth Chart & Horoscope Widgets 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓5 19 GuardForge — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 MoxKit Addons for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 BuildWithHumza Go Live Check — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 LolaCore for Bricks — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Gather Grove Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Leadovation Aero Users — · 0.0★ (0) 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.