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

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 all”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

YITH WooCommerce Quick View shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 80K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 27 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 #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #2 3 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #3 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 View Transitions 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #21 ↑3 8 too low 14 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Post View Count 4K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 YITH WooCommerce Quick View 80K+ · 3.8★ (27) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 CartSuite – Cart All In One For WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (51) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Grid/List View for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.4★ (50) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 VK All in One Expansion Unit 100K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Animate In View 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 View User Metadata 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.