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

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 number”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

Manage/Remove version number from CSS & JS shows at wp.org #2 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 16 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.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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 signals wp.org

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Sequential Order Number for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.9★ (146) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #11 7 too low 5

Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #12 6 too low 7

WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ · 4.8★ (169) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #20 ↑2 10 too low 11

OTP Login With Phone Number, OTP Verification 1K+ · 4.9★ (81) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 3 too high 12

Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #21 ↓2 9 too low 13

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #22 ↓2 9 too low 14

Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 9 too high 15

Meta Generator and Version Info Remover 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #13 2 too high 16

Pinpoint Booking System – Legacy version 2K+ · 3.6★ (185) wp.org #19 ↑4 3 too low 17

Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #18 1 too low 18

Manage/Remove version number from CSS & JS 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #2 16 too high 19

Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 4 too high 20

A Random Number 700+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #10 10 too high 21

Number of Products per Page – Pagination Manager for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Animated Number Counters 2K+ · 3.4★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #6 16 too high 23

Version Locker: Disable Updates, Rollback and Downgrade 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too high 24

WPLifeCycle – Free PHP Version Info & Website Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.