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

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 “wpexplorer”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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

Candy Social Widget shows at wp.org #3 but places #7 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 178 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Disable Elements for WPBakery Page Builder 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Post Types Unlimited 10K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Candy Social Widget 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Remove Website URL Field From Comment Form 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Just Events 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 S Scroll Up Sticky Header for Total 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Disable Browser Telephone Format Detection 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 T Term Based Dynamic Post Templates for Total 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 C CSS Animation Retrigger for WPBakery 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Affiliate Disclosure for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 N No Cookies for YouTube 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Disable Featured Image for The Events Calendar 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too low 17 P Product Carousels for Total — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Assign Staff as Author for Total 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 More Widgets 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Custom Page Templates Setup 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1

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.