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

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 “wordcamp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Optimization Detective shows at wp.org #2 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Image Widget places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 287 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Reusable Blocks Extended 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Paytium: Mollie payment forms & donations 2K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more 2K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Bitcoin Payments – Blockonomics 2K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #7 8 Image Widget 100K+ · 4.9★ (287) wp.org #23 ↓1 15 too low 9 Optimization Detective 60K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 Social Profile Frame Generator – Custom Social Media Frames Creator 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Knit Pay Pro – Mercado Pago, CCAvenue, Easebuzz, Thawani 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Knit Pay UPI – Paytm for Business, PhonePe Business, BharatPe, HDFC 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Periscope – Custom Dashboard News Widget 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 AcrossAI MCP Manager – WordPress MCP Server & Admin for MCP Adapter, Claude & ChatGPT 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Language Attribute for Container Blocks and Pages/Posts 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Servantly Ask – Private Q&A with Spam-Blocking Moderation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 My Apps — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 GatherPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 threadi Now Pages — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 NHR Core Contributions — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Contributor Résumé and Insights 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Copyright AI Content Licensing – Block AI Crawlers + Get Paid 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 S Shashura Mobile Money for CampTix — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Buy Now Woocommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.