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

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 “wp action”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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.

A

Ranked above its merit

Action Scheduler shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 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 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #1 2 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #2 3 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #3 ↑3 4 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #4 5 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #5 6 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too high 12 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #18 ↑2 6 too low 13 WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375) wp.org #16 ↑3 3 too low 14 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too high 15 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too low 16 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too high 17 WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #17 ↑5 18 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #21 22 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑2 14 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.