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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user notes”

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 “user notes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Frontend User Notes shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Notes 800+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #1 2 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #6 7 WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #7 8 WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) wp.org #8 9 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #13 14 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #15 ↑6 1 too low 15 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Page & Post Notes 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Sticky Notes for WP Dashboard 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 Frontend User Notes 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Product Notes Tab & Private Admin Notes for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Customer Notes for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.