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

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 sep”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 134 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 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #1 2 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #2 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #3 4 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too low 5 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #9 ↓3 4 too low 6 FileOrganizer – WordPress File Manager 200K+ · 4.8★ (49) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Advanced WordPress Backgrounds 30K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #7 ↑4 8 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #14 ↓4 6 too low 9 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #18 ↓4 7 too low 12 Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress by PirateForms 30K+ · 4.7★ (223) wp.org #12 13 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Intagrate Lite 4K+ · 4.1★ (27) wp.org #8 ↓1 6 too high 15 FastDup – Fastest WordPress Migration & Duplicator 5K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too high 16 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #4 13 too high 18 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Chartify – WordPress Chart Plugin 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 CatFolders – WordPress Media Library Folders & Categories 6K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too high 21 rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress 7K+ · 3.7★ (152) wp.org #19 ↑2 2 too high 22 Quill Forms | Conversational Multi Step Forms, Surveys & quizzes 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too high 23 Compact Archives 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 ClickRank – Ai SEO Automation 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #17 7 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.