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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “virtual pages”

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

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Virtual Media Folders shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 300+ 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

Simply Schedule Appointments places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 155 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Faview – Virtual Reviews for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #1 2 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #2 3 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #3 4 WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 iPanorama 360 – Advanced Virtual Tour Builder 4K+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #5 6 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Virtual Robots.txt 40K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Panorama – Turn Photos into Immersive Virtual Tours 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Bulk Page Generator – LPagery 3K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Thanko Thank You Page Customizer for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Virtual Classroom & Video Conferencing – BigBlueButton 400+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Simple Site Map Page 9K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Virtual Media Folders 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Xendit Payment 3K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 myPOS Checkout 4K+ · 3.3★ (16) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Virtual product checkout field manager for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 HappyVR – Virtual Tour Builder & 360 Panorama Viewer 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 G GFit Virtual Tryon 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.