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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “visitor input”

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 “visitor input”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

WPS Visitor Counter shows at wp.org #3 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #1 2 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Input Mask For Elementor Form Fields 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Form Input Masks For Elementor Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 TWIPLA – Website Intelligence 800+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 WPS Visitor Counter 10K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Video Player for YouTube – Embed Videos Your Visitors Will Love to Watch 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Booking Package 10K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) wp.org #23 24 Telephone Input For Contact Form 7 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 9 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.