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

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 bakery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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.

Ranked above its merit

Advanced Ads for WPBakery Page Builder shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 201 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 Ultimate Before After Image Slider & Gallery – BEAF 30K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #2 3 WP EasyCart: Shopping Cart and eCommerce Store 3K+ · 4.5★ (206) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Twenty20 Image Before-After 20K+ · 4.0★ (54) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WP Mail Log 10K+ · 4.9★ (66) wp.org #5 6 Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #6 7 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #7 8 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (160) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 Cimo – Free Instant Image Optimizer & WebP Converter 10K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #18 ↑4 5 too low 14 WP Extended – Modular WordPress Toolkit 600+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Upsell Funnel Builder for WooCommerce – Create Upsells, Cross-Sells, Order Bumps, Frequently Bought, and Popups. 2K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Media Hygiene: Remove or Delete Unused Images and More! 4K+ · 4.2★ (41) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 One Click Upsell Funnel for Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 CubeWP Framework 3K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Blogsqode – Blog Layouts and News Post Design 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 Advanced Ads for WPBakery Page Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 WP Team – WordPress Team Member Plugin 500+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑1 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.