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

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 bar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 31 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1146 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #1 2 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 ↑4 1 too low 10 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too low 11 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #17 ↑5 6 too low 12 Cookie Bar 10K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #8 ↑4 4 too high 13 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too high 17 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #11 ↑2 8 too high 20 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #20 21 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓5 6 too high 22 WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.