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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress forum plugin”

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 “wordpress forum plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 6 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

reCAPTCHA for Asgaros Forum shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #4 5 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #7 8 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Discussion Board – WordPress Forum Plugin 1K+ · 4.6★ (43) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too high 13 Asgaros Forum 10K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #21 ↑3 3 too low 19 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too high 21 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301) wp.org #19 ↑3 3 too high 23 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #23 24 reCAPTCHA for Asgaros Forum 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 13 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.