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

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 pic”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Local Profile Pics shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Clone places #9 on merit, 4.1★ from 339 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Dynamic User Directory 1K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #11 9 too low 3 Easy Image Collage 3K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #3 4 Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #5 6 Pic-Time Connect 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9 Clone 40K+ · 4.1★ (339) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress 7K+ · 3.7★ (152) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Cloud SAML SSO – Single Sign On Login 80+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Image Carousel 1K+ · 2.6★ (14) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Local Profile Pics 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Ultimate Member – Online Users 3K+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Unlimited Photos – Unsplash images 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 P PiwigoPress 200+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Partyline: Reader-Submitted Stories for Local News and Magazines 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 J JournalPress 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 JNE Shipping – Plugin Ongkos Kirim Resmi Untuk WooCommerce 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Stats4U — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Auto Rename Media On Upload 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Linet ERP Integration For Woocommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 VideoADShtml5 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #18 6 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.