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

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 “wrap”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Product Assembly / Gift Wrap / … Cost for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 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 Gift Wrapper for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #1 2 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #5 ↑3 2 too low 4 W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (74) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Lightweight Accordion 10K+ · 5.0★ (60) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Device Wrapper 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 Breadcrumbs for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 H Hotfix 4K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Header and Footer Scripts 200K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #15 ↓4 1 too low 15 Posts Table with Search & Sort 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #11 ↑6 4 too high 16 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Genesis Simple Hooks 20K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too low 18 Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 User Posts Limit 3K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Product Assembly / Gift Wrap / … Cost for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓2 15 too high 23 Animate In View 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 JSM file_get_contents() Shortcode 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.