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

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 worker”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 6 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

Web Worker Offloading shows at wp.org #2 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 195 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 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #1 2 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 too low 7 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #23 ↑1 13 too low 11 SendPulse Free Web Push 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 PWA — easy way to Progressive Web App 1K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Hyper PWA – Bringing Modern Progressive Web App Experiences 400+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Web Worker Offloading 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #2 14 too high 17 iZooto – Web Push Notifications 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Squeeze – Browser-Based Image Compression & WebP Converter (No API, No Limits) 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓3 20 Management App for WooCommerce – Order notifications, Order management, Lead management, Uptime Monitoring 800+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Progressify – All-in-One Progressive Web App (PWA) 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Subscribers – Free Web Push Notifications 1K+ · 2.9★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 PushAI – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 PWA – Progressive Web App Builder by WPCodeQuill 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.