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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp feature flags”

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 feature flags”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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

International Telephone Input With Flags And Dial Codes shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 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 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 3 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #3 ↑3 4 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #5 ↑5 3 too high 9 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #11 ↑2 12 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #13 ↓2 14 WP Booking System – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (344) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 HireZoot – Job Listings, Career Page & Recruitment Tool 30K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 WP Multilang – Translation and Multilingual Plugin 10K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too low 17 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 WP Remote Users Sync 6K+ · 4.9★ (73) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 WP-Lister Lite for eBay 2K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Compact WP Audio Player 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 WP Updates Notifier 20K+ · 4.2★ (35) wp.org #21 22 Phone Validator with Flags for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 International Telephone Input With Flags And Dial Codes 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 WP-Lister Lite for Amazon 800+ · 3.9★ (22) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.