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← Rankings

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

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 “whois”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

coreActivity: Activity Logging for WordPress shows at wp.org #19 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 5038 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP24 Domain Check 4K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #1 2 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #2 3 Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too low 5 Server Info – System Health & Diagnostics Suite 3K+ · 3.8★ (12) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 CodeColorer 1K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Powie's WHOIS Domain Check 400+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #8 9 Nginx Cache Purge Preload 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 OWH Domain WHOIS RDAP — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Deskmode Suite 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 WordSec – Malware Scanner & Removal, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and 2FA 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 一介資男(Mxp.TW) 開發工具箱 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 QAS Domain Checker – WHOIS RDAP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Users Login Monitor 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 LMN Site Monitor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑5 17 MarketXY — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓3 18 PDN152 Compliance 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 WhoIsMember – Member Directory, User Activity Log & Who Is Online — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 ConacLog – Collection and Analysis for Access Logs — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Redkirin Ad Click Verification 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 MDI Spam Sheriff (for GravityForms) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 BloomWatcher – Live Server & Site Health Dashboard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 coreActivity: Activity Logging for WordPress 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 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.