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

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 “view”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ 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

LiteSpeed Cache places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2778 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 wp.org
1 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #2 ↑6 1 too low 2 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #8 ↓2 4 too low 5 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 View Transitions 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #7 8 Quick View For WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 YITH WooCommerce Quick View 80K+ · 3.8★ (27) wp.org #4 ↓1 7 too high 12 Post View Count 4K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #23 ↓4 10 too low 14 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Grid/List View for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.4★ (50) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 CP Multi View Events Calendar 900+ · 4.3★ (46) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 Page View Count 10K+ · 4.0★ (55) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Wp Post Views – WordPress Post views counter 4K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too low 19 L List View Google Calendar 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Animate In View 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 View User Metadata 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑9 8 too high 23 QODE Quick View for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓6 3 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.