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

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 “under”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #1 2 Under Construction, Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 10K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #2 3 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #3 4 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode Page & Under Construction 10K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #4 5 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #17 ↓2 11 too low 7 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #14 ↑3 6 too low 9 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #19 ↑3 6 too low 14 Really Simple Under Construction Page – Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 1K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Maintenance & Coming Soon Redirect Animation 3K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Under The Weather 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 9 too high 17 Ultimate Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Under Construction – Gutenberg Block Builder & Landing Page 9K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Eazy Under Construction 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 GW Under Construction Mode 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Siteready Coming Soon Under Construction 4K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Animated/Illustrated Under construction plug-in for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Super Easy Maintenance Mode – Coming Soon & Under Construction 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Catch Under Construction 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.