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

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 “www”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Simple WWW Redirect shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events places #6 on merit, 4.5★ from 292 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3

WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4

Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) host-installed base wp.org #1 3 too high 5

SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #10 ↑3 5 too low 6

Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events 2K+ · 4.5★ (292) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 too low 7

All In One Redirection 1K+ · 4.4★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #5 2 too high 8

FlexMeeting – Webinar & Meeting Plugin for Jitsi Meet 1K+ · 4.5★ (38) wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too low 10

Swift Performance Lite 6K+ · 3.6★ (125) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11

Pochipp 20K+ · 4.2★ (5) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #6 5 too high 12

Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13

Each domain a page 200+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14

Ubersuggest SEO Tools 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15

PDF Thumbnail Generator 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #23 8 too low 16

Address Validator for WooCommerce 90+ · 3.4★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17

Bookero.pl – system rezerwacji online 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18

Easy Image Optimizer 60+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 19

Hotelipp 400+ · 5.0★ (2) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too low 20

Simple WWW Redirect 1K+ · 2.7★ (3) thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #7 13 too high 21

Simple SSL Redirects 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 22

Zen Site Security 70+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 3 too high 23

Shorthand Connect 100+ · 3.5★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24

Crawler Record 100+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24

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.