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

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 “unread”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

Orders Chat for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 178 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 bbp style pack 6K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #1 2 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #2 3 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 forumAttachments for bbPress 6K+ · 4.3★ (26) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #10 ↑4 5 too low 6 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #11 ↑9 5 too low 7 Block, Suspend, Report for BuddyPress 500+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 WP w3all phpBB 200+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #16 ↓6 6 too low 11 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #18 ↓6 7 too low 12 GD bbPress Tools 1K+ · 3.8★ (24) wp.org #9 ↑2 3 too high 13 CF7 Submissions – Securely Store Contact Form 7 Data and Attachments, Reply to the Sender and more 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 Buddy Notification Bell 100+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑2 16 Contact Form to DB by BestWebSoft – Messages Database Plugin For WordPress 1K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #13 ↑3 3 too high 17 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↑2 4 too low 18 Turnkey bbPress by WeaverTheme 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑3 6 too high 19 SureDash – Community, Courses & Member Dashboard 1K+ · 4.3★ (23) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 FormGent – Next-Gen AI Form Builder for WordPress with Multi-Step, Quizzes, Payments & More 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑2 21 B BP Bulk Delete 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Orders Chat for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 FlowForms – Conversational Form Builder 300+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓14 1 too high 24 Submissions Hub for Divi 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.