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

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 “utc”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Lightweight Sitemap Generator shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ 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 Simple Digital Clock 🕒 500+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Message Bridge for Contact Form 7 and Telegram 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WCMultiShipping — Mondial Relay, Inpost & Chronopost for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (33) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Smart Auto Upload Images – Import External Images 5K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Users Birthday Email 90+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Add Pinterest conversion tags for Pinterest Ads + Site verification 1K+ · 3.3★ (9) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too high 8 EZ Horoscope Professional 300+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #14 ↓4 6 too low 9 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓3 10 Date counter 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓6 13 too low 11 Bradmax Player 1K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #24 ↓5 13 too low 12 Publish kintone data 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓7 6 too low 13 Jeepers Peepers: WP Syslog 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓5 3 too high 14 O OneCode Login 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓4 3 too high 15 Cookies, Terms & Conditions Consent Log 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓5 6 too low 16 Lightweight Sitemap Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑13 9 too high 17 Hagakure – Yet Another Error Reporter 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too high 18 B Beltoft Gift Cards for WooCommerce 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 Export Orders for WooCommerce – AI & MCP for Claude and ChatGPT 500+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓5 1 too low 20 Conformitico Recesso 54-bis for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 too low 21 ITBoffins Live Opening Hours Banner & Table 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓4 9 too high 22 OffCanvas / Drawer – add sleek slide-in panels to any page 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓4 9 too high 23 APG Withdrawal for WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Init FX Engine – Interactive, Event-Driven, Lightweight 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓6 5 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.