Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 voting”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Crowdsignal Forms shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 769 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 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 bbPress Voting 400+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (452) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 ePoll – Contest Poll Survey & Voting 1K+ · 3.9★ (24) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 TS Poll – Survey, Versus Poll, Image Poll, Video Poll 3K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) wp.org #19 ↑3 9 too low 11 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #20 ↑1 9 too low 12 Democracy Poll 6K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #12 13 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #21 ↓2 8 too low 14 Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe 1K+ · 4.4★ (89) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Like Button Rating ♥ LikeBtn 3K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 WP Voting Contest Lite 400+ · 3.1★ (15) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Forumax – AI Powered Advanced Community Forum Plugin 500+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 IdeaPush 700+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Tribulant Gallery Voting 300+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Advanced Accordion Gutenberg Block – Create Beautiful FAQs, Content Accordions & Interactive Tabs 9K+ · 4.1★ (34) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Crowdsignal Dashboard – Polls, Surveys & more 200K+ · 2.7★ (34) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Simple Feature Requests Free – User Feedback Board 100+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #23 24 Crowdsignal Forms 200K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 14 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.