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← Rankings

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

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 “wider”, we and wp.org disagree 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

ATmosphere shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 300+ 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

404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 321 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 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Wider Admin Menu 2K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Transliterator – Multilingual and Multi-script Text Conversion 3K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 ActivityPub 6K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too low 7 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #18 ↑1 10 too low 9 CAPTCHA 4WP – Antispam CAPTCHA solution for WordPress 100K+ · 3.2★ (269) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 WP Socializer – Simple & Easy Social Media Share Icons 10K+ · 4.5★ (128) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13 Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (162) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too high 14 The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block 10K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #14 ↓5 1 too high 16 WP Simple HTML Sitemap 3K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #7 ↑1 9 too high 17 Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #17 18 Local Business Schema Lite 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 ATmosphere 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↓1 17 too high 21 Tamara Checkout 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 17 too high 22 Easy Google AdSense 5K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Blogsqode – Blog Layouts and News Post Design 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Svea Checkout for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 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.