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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “universal clock”

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 “universal clock”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

MCPServe shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 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 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Easy Appointment Booking & Scheduling Plugin – Webba Booking Calendar 2K+ · 4.9★ (159) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 ChatBot.com Conversational AI Support 1K+ · 3.7★ (10) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Acceptcoin — · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 Seekmodo Search — · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 ChatLab – AI Chatbot for WordPress and WooCommerce 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 Chartsy 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 Universal Clocks 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too high 13 Omnia Booking Engine — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 S Sweet Sharmin Preloader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 txt.me – Omnichannel Live Chat, Chat Triggers, Incoming and Outgoing Email 10+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 MCPServe — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑4 6 too high 17 DominoForm – Advanced Contact Form, Polls, Survey & Quiz Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Checknaut — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Martial Arts Club Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 GoRoute E-Invoicing for WooCommerce – Peppol invoices, credit notes, delivery status — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Webmastery Site Toolkit for MCP 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 ROAS Tool Kits for Meta and Google (Post & Product Catalogue + Pixel, CAPI, GA4, GAds, GTM & Clarity) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 OW Consent — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 J Just Another Author Information Widget 10+ · 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.