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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “white screen”

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 “white screen”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Simple Maintenance Mode White Screen shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Login Page Customizer places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 476 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 White Label – WordPress Custom Admin, Custom Login Page, and Custom Dashboard 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #1 2 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Branda – White Label & Branding, Free Login Page Customizer 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #6 7 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Alex Reservations – Restaurant Reservations, Tables & White-Label Booking System 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #16 17 Plugin Detective – Troubleshooting Conflicts 5K+ · 4.0★ (49) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too high 18 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Simple Maintenance Mode White Screen 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 16 too high 20 Enable bbPress for Block Themes 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 WP Safe Mode 2K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 White Label WP Login 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 F4 Simple White Label 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 Dynamic Post – AI Content – White Paper – Peer Review – Tax & Accounting Sites 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.