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

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 “watchdog”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Site Add-on Watchdog shows at wp.org #4 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 MyCryptoCheckout – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 100+ altcoins for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 Watchdog Security Lite — Powered by Lumiverse Nexus 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 NutsForPress Login Watchdog 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Sync for Nexus ERP and WC — · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓3 14 too low 6 Fatal Plugin Auto Deactivator – Never let a plugin break your site 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Ecomail 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Site Add-on Watchdog 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 Fleet Agent Site Manager – Securely Connects Your Sites to a WPMgr Dashboard 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 DynamicIP Watchdog — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Business Watchdog for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 TillFoundry Scheduler Watchdog — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 OnyxFlo Watchdog for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 CloudScale Backup & Restore 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 BackupRidge 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 M Main Entrance 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too high 17 Omnirely Order Connect for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 AI Flash Tune – Abandoned Cart Recovery & Funnel Analytics for WooCommerce 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 BackupBeacon — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 OptiForge Image Optimizer — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 PressHangar Draft Pacer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓4 1 too low 22 aXeMit Import Products, Media & SEO Suite for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 Maisy SEO Metadata Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 Volixta Analytics Lite — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.