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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “version controll”

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 “version controll”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 8 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.

B

Ranked above its merit

Before After Content shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Autocomplete WooCommerce Orders 30K+ · 4.6★ (137) wp.org #1 2 Perfect Brands for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.7★ (414) wp.org #2 3 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Easy Watermark 30K+ · 3.7★ (159) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Slider by 10Web – Responsive Image Slider 10K+ · 4.5★ (289) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 C Creative Contact Form 100+ · 4.1★ (24) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 UiCore Blocks – Free WordPress Gutenberg Blocks 500+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Target Video Easy Publish 50+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 E Easy 20+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 User Frontend for Elementor – Frontend Admin Panel, Profile, Login, Registration & Content Submission for Elementor 50+ · 3.7★ (11) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 wao.io 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 13 E Easy Fullscreen Slider 100+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 ZMPlugin 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Better Smooth Scroll 10+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 P Pondol BBS 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 HTML5 Youtube Player 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 P Plugin Version Switching 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 U UPD8 Feedback — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 E EIT Custom Scrollbar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 C Content Sort 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 B Before After Content 10+ · 2.0★ (3) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 F Flash Gallery 200+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Questionnaire 70+ · 2.0★ (4) wp.org #20 4 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.