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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “web designer”

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 “web designer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 3 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

Ansar Import – One Click Starter Sites – for WordPress Themes shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ 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

Cost Calculator Builder places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 393 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #2 3 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too high 8 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Cost Calculator Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (393) wp.org #19 ↑5 7 too low 13 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Testimonial – Testimonial Slider and Showcase Plugin 20K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #22 ↓4 7 too low 16 Dashboard To-Do List 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 HIPAA Forms 800+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #17 ↑5 18 Printcart Store – Web to Print Product Designer for WooCommerce 60+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 PressPrimer Certificate – Certificate Designer & Course Certification for Your LMS 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 too high 20 MyStyle Custom Product Designer 50+ · 3.9★ (13) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 Ansar Import – One Click Starter Sites – for WordPress Themes 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 too high 22 3D Viewer Block – Bring Your Products to Life with Interactive 3D 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓5 1 too low 24 Product Designer App 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 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.