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

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 “usability”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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

WCBoost – Products Compare shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 30K+ 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 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Better Usability for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 HireZoot – Job Listings, Career Page & Recruitment Tool 30K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (162) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #7 8 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Google Authenticator 20K+ · 4.3★ (135) wp.org #10 11 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too low 14 Cooked – Recipe Management 3K+ · 3.9★ (90) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too low 15 Multi Step Form 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 Jetpack Search 5K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #16 ↑3 17 Shared Albums for Google Photos 500+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Trinity Audio – Text to Speech AI audio player to convert content into audio 2K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #22 ↑2 4 too low 19 YITH WooCommerce Product Gallery & Image Zoom 10K+ · 3.6★ (71) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Pixeline’s Email Protector 900+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #21 ↑2 22 WCBoost – Products Compare 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Premmerce Redirect Manager 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 In-feed ads for Google AdSense 6K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 12 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.