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

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 “unserialized”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 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

JSM Show Comment Metadata shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 30+ 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.

Buried gem

Theme My Login places #6 on merit, 3.7★ from 460 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #11 9 too low 3 String locator 100K+ · 4.6★ (125) wp.org #17 ↓1 14 too low 4 JSM Show User Metadata 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #19 14 too low 6 Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #21 ↓1 15 too low 7 JSM Show Order Metadata for WooCommerce HPOS 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #23 ↓1 14 too low 10 F FG Fix Serialized Strings 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Object Cache 4 everyone 5K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓2 9 too low 12 PureDevs Any Meta Inspector 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 WP SpeedUp 200+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 JSM Show Term Metadata 800+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 WebwinkelKeur: Webshop keurmerk & reviews for WordPress 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 JSM Show Comment Metadata 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 N Nik Images Auto Convert 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Linkstraight Redirect Fixer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19 Display post meta, term meta, comment meta, and user meta 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 Trazelio – Migration Leftover URL Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Cloud Migrate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 CodePoint Server-to-Server Migration — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 LeanRoles – User Tags & Role Performance Audit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 S SEOGeoX — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.