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

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 pinning”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Animatikon – Scroll Animations & Motion Effects shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 40+ 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

WP Recipe Maker places #4 on merit, 5.0★ from 356 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too low 2 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #6 ↑5 4 too low 3 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #14 ↓1 11 too low 4 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #20 ↓2 16 too low 5 BugHerd 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Yatra – Travel Booking & Tour Operator Software 600+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #18 ↓1 11 too low 8 Social Slider Feed – Social Media Feed & Gallery Widgets 10K+ · 3.9★ (127) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 too low 9 Lazy load videos and sticky control 80+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 Sticky Comment 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↓1 7 too high 11 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Jetpack Social 30K+ · 3.3★ (74) wp.org #19 ↑1 7 too low 13 WPGraphQL Smart Cache 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Animatikon – Scroll Animations & Motion Effects 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓8 4 too high 16 Poly Pin Manager 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 PinnerPress – Customizable Pin Buttons for Pinterest Creators 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Instant Breaking News 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Periscope – Custom Dashboard News Widget 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑2 6 too high 20 Scrollzee – Video Scroll 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 External Image Importer – Import Remote Images to the Media Library 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too high 22 Simple Pin It Button 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 SwiftSearch for Algolia — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Bloqra – Gutenberg Blocks & Page Builder for Block Editor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.