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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “website information”

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 “website information”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Website Information shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #2 3 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 ↑5 2 too low 4 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #21 ↑3 3 too low 19 Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Website Information 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 17 too high 21 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 B bbp profile information 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Cookie Information – Cookie Banner with Consent Mode v2 2K+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #7 16 too high 24 Private Website – Login Required 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 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.