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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “update comments”

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 “update comments”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Turn Comments Off shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ 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

Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 133 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Disable Comments & Delete All Comments 9K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 WP Comment Cleaner – Delete All Comments, Disable Comments, Bulk Delete & Remove Comments 20K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Comments Import & Export 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Simple Comment Editing 2K+ · 4.8★ (55) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 WP Updates Notifier 20K+ · 4.2★ (35) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Decent Comments 1K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 Lazy Social Comments 900+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Update Comment Count 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Zeno Report Comments 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Comment Blacklist Updater 800+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Turn Comments Off 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 10 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.