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← Rankings

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

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 “viewed”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

MATE Recently Viewed Products – Cache Compatible for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Justified Gallery places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 206 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 #3 ↑6 2 too low 2 WP-PostViews 90K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too low 4 WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Recently Viewed Products for WooCommerce – Carousel, Widget, Block & Email 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 Related Products – Create Upsells, Cross-sells, and Product Recommendations for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #9 ↑9 2 too low 8 Customer who viewed this item also viewed using Woocommerce 50+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Statify 100K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #20 ↑1 10 too low 11 Mailchimp for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.0★ (726) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 Boxzilla – WordPress Popup Builder 20K+ · 4.8★ (133) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Email Log 80K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Post View Count 4K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 Free WooCommerce Products Slider/Carousel Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 MATE Recently Viewed Products – Cache Compatible for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↓2 15 too high 21 Advanced Popups 60K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 WPC AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 Hide Price Until Login 1K+ · 3.5★ (24) wp.org #23 24 Signature field for Elementor Forms 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.