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

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 “unapprove”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Seeb Abilities – 100 New Abilities, Infinite Possibilities for AI Agents shows at wp.org #16 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its — 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Approve User 3K+ · 4.2★ (42) wp.org #1 2 WP Webhooks – Automate repetitive tasks by creating powerful automation workflows directly within WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Views for WPForms – Display & Edit WPForms Entries on your site frontend 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Forumax – AI Powered Advanced Community Forum Plugin 500+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Kadence Central – Site Management, Backups, Security, and Reporting 30K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 BuddyPress Members Only 900+ · 3.7★ (26) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Review Helper for WooCommerce 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 Dokan Vendor Dashboard 200+ · 2.2★ (15) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Sokket – MCP Server: Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor & Any AI Agent to WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 CBX Petition 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 Ultimate Comment Cleaner – Remove Spam & Unwanted Comments, Delete Comments in Bulk 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Spotlight Search – Find Anything, Anywhere 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 Starquill for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 VADware Reviews — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 ReviewModo – Review Manager & Analytics for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 BSS Customer Feedback Hub for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 OmoReviews — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Yak Event Hooks — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 ASB Smart Flow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Seeb Abilities – 100 New Abilities, Infinite Possibilities for AI Agents — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑3 4 too high 21 R RT Connect Webhooks | WordPress Webhooks for Zapier, Make & Pabbly — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Aoedia – AI Assistant for Your Blog — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Pastmark – Activity Log, User Activity & Audit Trail — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 LLM Moderator For wpForo — · 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.