Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “welcome”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Welcome Greetings based on Time shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 30+ 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

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2617 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 Dashboard Welcome for Elementor 10K+ · 4.1★ (23) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Swift SMTP (formerly Welcome Email Editor) 7K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #10 ↑4 3 too low 8 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #14 ↑6 4 too low 11 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #18 ↓3 6 too low 13 D Disable Welcome Messages and Tips 700+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Imsanity 200K+ · 4.9★ (291) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 What Would Seth Godin Do 900+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #13 ↓4 5 too high 19 Embed PDF Viewer 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too low 20 WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 Google Analytics for WooCommerce 100K+ · 2.8★ (119) wp.org #20 ↓9 1 too high 22 Welcome Greetings based on Time 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23 Easy Dashboard – Clean Admin Welcome Screen 40+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Host Domination Welcome Book: Free Digital Guest Guide for Vacation Rentals, B&Bs & Hotels 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 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.