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

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 “umlauts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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 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

Keyword-Based Bulk Category Assignment for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its — 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

Knowledge Base documentation & wiki plugin – BasePress Docs places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 75 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rename Media Files: Improve Your SEO 8K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Leaflet Map 30K+ · 4.9★ (58) wp.org #8 6 too low 3 Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor 50K+ · 4.9★ (729) wp.org #11 8 too low 4 de_DE 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #12 ↓2 7 too low 6 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #16 ↓1 10 too low 7 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 WS Force Login Page 100+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Knowledge Base documentation & wiki plugin – BasePress Docs 2K+ · 4.8★ (75) wp.org #20 ↓1 11 too low 10 WP-Appbox 2K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 FluentPlayer – Video Player With Forms & Lead Capture 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Vachr Short-Term Rental Reservations 30+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 RedFoX UTM Link Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 3task Glossary: A-Z Index, Dictionary & Wiki — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓1 11 too high 17 Locatoraid Store Locator 1K+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 Keyword-Based Bulk Category Assignment for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 Provimedia GEO Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 12 too high 20 Grandranker 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓3 10 too high 21 Flavor – Restaurant Menu & Table Reservations 100+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Fortnox for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 Linkjet 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 DarkAdmin – Dark Mode for Adminpanel 100+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓5 3 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.