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

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 “welsh”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Expire User Passwords shows at wp.org #3 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widgets for Booking.com Reviews places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 65 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. 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 Flexible Map 7K+ · 4.8★ (66) wp.org #2 3 Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #8 ↓3 5 too low 4 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too high 6 Protect the Children! 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too high 7 WP Tripadvisor Review Widgets 20K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Tockify Events Calendar 2K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #6 ↓3 3 too high 10 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Expire User Passwords 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #3 ↑1 8 too high 12 ResponsiveVoice Text To Speech 7K+ · 3.9★ (34) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Widgets for Amazon Reviews 2K+ · 4.0★ (45) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Automatic Translator with Google Translate 2K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #14 15 Widgets for Yelp Reviews 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #15 16 Embedder for Google Reviews 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Widgets for Thumbtack Reviews 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Widgets for Ebay Reviews 500+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Widgets for Expedia Reviews 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Tides Today UK and Ireland tide times 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 Widgets for Capterra Reviews 100+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Widgets for Zillow Reviews 300+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑4 3 too high 23 Edit Usernames 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Widgets for Opentable Reviews 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.