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

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 “walker”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Walker Core shows at wp.org #1 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 851 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 The Hack Repair Guy’s Plugin Archiver 300+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #24 20 too low 5 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #21 ↓1 16 too low 6 AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress 600+ · 4.5★ (55) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 M MslsMenu 100+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Walker Core 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 Shortcode for Font Awesome 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 Menu Caching 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Menu Item Types 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Uplink Media Bridge for Etch 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Sitekit 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Uplink Admin Menu Manager 50+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 ModuleFest Pet Walker – Pet Walking Business Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Uplink Editorial Title 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Uplink Unified Ops Center 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Uplink CSS Columns 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Uplink Editorial Semantics 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Uplink Analytics Dashboard for Cabin 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Beplus Visual Mega Navigation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 RxCompliant for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23 Morick Markdown Layer for AI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 C Cozy Rental Catalog — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.