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

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 maintenance”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 #6 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 11 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

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 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 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #1 2 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #2 3 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Under Construction, Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 10K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode Page & Under Construction 10K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #17 ↑3 10 too low 8 Maintenance & Coming Soon Redirect Animation 3K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Maintenance Redirect 10K+ · 4.9★ (24) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Minimal Coming Soon – Coming Soon Page 100K+ · 4.3★ (282) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 Maintenance Mode 8K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib 5K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Really Simple Under Construction Page – Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 1K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Maintenance mode for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Maintenance Mode Made Easy 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #6 11 too high 18 Lite Maintenance Mode 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Ultimate Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Under Construction – Gutenberg Block Builder & Landing Page 9K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Super Easy Maintenance Mode – Coming Soon & Under Construction 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 M Minimal Maintenance Mode 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Speedx – Maintenance Mode 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Simple Maintenance Mode White Screen 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Glow: maintenance & support management for agencies 800+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.