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

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

PhonePe Payment Solutions shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.6★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #1 2 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 E Easy Username Updater 10K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Admin Notices Manager 10K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 CAPTCHA 4WP – Antispam CAPTCHA solution for WordPress 100K+ · 3.2★ (269) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule 10K+ · 4.0★ (128) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Melapress Login Security 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Button Generator – Easily Create Custom Buttons with Icons and Analytics 4K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Melapress File Monitor 5K+ · 4.1★ (32) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Injection Guard 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Advanced Shipping Rates for WooCommerce: Flexible Table Rate Shipping Rules 2K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Premmerce Wholesale Pricing for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↓1 8 too high 14 Library Viewer 400+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Rich Table of Contents 20K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Premmerce WooCommerce Customers Manager 700+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Bulk NoIndex & NoFollow Toolkit 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Premmerce SEO for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.4★ (7) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Paytm Payment Gateway 3K+ · 3.1★ (15) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Sticky Buttons – Floating Buttons Builder 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 PhonePe Payment Solutions 10K+ · 2.6★ (11) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Melapress Role Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Premmerce Wishlist for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #19 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.