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

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 screenshots”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Feedbucket – Website Feedback Tool shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Featured Image from URL (FIFU) places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 264 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 WP Meteor Website Speed Optimization Addon 20K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 CopyProof Website 300+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #5 6 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #7 8 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #11 ↑9 3 too low 9 Marker.io – Visual Website Feedback 4K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #9 10 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #15 ↑7 5 too low 11 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #13 ↑6 2 too low 12 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 WP Image Zoom 10K+ · 4.3★ (119) wp.org #22 ↓4 9 too low 14 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #18 ↑5 4 too low 15 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Simple Commenter – Website Feedback tool 200+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Albacross – B2B Website Visitor Identification 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #17 ↓4 18 Feedbucket – Website Feedback Tool 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓2 10 too high 19 CP Blocks 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #19 ↓4 20 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too high 21 Custom Adobe Fonts (Typekit) 60K+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #21 ↓5 22 Frontman – AI Website Editor 80+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Blockons – Gutenberg blocks for WordPress and WooCommerce websites 600+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 WSA – Website Accelerator Cache Purge 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓6 4 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.