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

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

REVIEWS.io for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Flow-Flow Social Streams places #6 on merit, 3.3★ from 100 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #4 5 Easy Affiliate Links 6K+ · 4.2★ (34) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Flow-Flow Social Streams 7K+ · 3.3★ (100) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 UGC Comments 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 too high 8 Metronet Tag Manager 20K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Live Shopping & Shoppable Videos For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 ReelsWp – Shoppable Videos & Vertical Reels Carousels 300+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Leaving Notice Popup For External Links – nofollow, noopener & New Tab 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Taggbox: Social Media Feed Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Shoppable Social Media Galleries by Sauce 2K+ · 3.9★ (39) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16 SU Blocks – Blogcard 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 UGCify – UGC for WooCommerce ( Customer Photos, Videos & Visual Reviews ) — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 GT Link Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Proofwp – Visual Product Reviews for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 External Links Manager – Open new window in a new tab + nofollow, noreferrer 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Royal Links – Affiliate Link Cloaking, Shortener & Tracker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 WebberZone Link Warnings 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 LinkGenius – Affiliate Link Manager and Link Shortener 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 REVIEWS.io for WooCommerce 1K+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #14 10 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.