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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “vanilla forums”

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 “vanilla forums”, 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

Init Chat Engine – Real-Time, Community, Extensible shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 50+ 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.

Buried gem

Simple Membership places #4 on merit, 4.6★ from 475 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #2 3 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #3 4 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Lightbox Images for Divi Enhanced 4K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Simple GDPR Cookie Compliance 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Lazy Load for Comments 2K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 What Would Seth Godin Do 900+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Calculator Builder – Create an Online Calculator 1K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 2K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Button Generator – Easily Create Custom Buttons with Icons and Analytics 4K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Termageddon: Cookie Consent & Privacy Compliance 8K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Restrict WP Upload Type 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Easy Tabs Block – Smart, Lightweight & Responsive Tabs for the Block Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 MaxtDesign Cookie Consent – Google Consent Mode v2 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 WebP Image Optimization 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Mirror App – Social Gallery Feed 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Init Chat Engine – Real-Time, Community, Extensible 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.