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

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 space”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Mawu Art – View in Your Space shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 30+ 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 #11 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 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Branda – White Label & Branding, Free Login Page Customizer 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #3 4 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Smart Image Resize for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #9 ↑4 2 too low 8 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #13 ↑5 5 too low 9 Alex Reservations – Restaurant Reservations, Tables & White-Label Booking System 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Flexible Spacer Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #15 ↓5 3 too low 13 SOOZ – AI for SEO – Bulk Generate Focus Keyphrases, Metadata, Alt Text (SEO Autopilot) 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #17 ↑2 3 too low 15 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #20 ↑2 5 too low 16 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #18 ↓9 1 too low 18 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Product Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Smart Swatches 700+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Asta HTML Minifier 100+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Mawu Art – View in Your Space 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑4 12 too high 24 The Word Widget 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.