Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “yahoo protocol”

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 “yahoo protocol”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

SMTP for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

XML Sitemap Generator for Google places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2233 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #1 2 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #2 3 Social Login, Social Sharing by miniOrange 10K+ · 4.6★ (356) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 Show Eventbrite Events – Event Feed for Eventbrite 800+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 SMTP.com 80+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Simple SMTP by Maileroo 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Easy Video Reviews – Testimonial Grid & Social Proof 100+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Membee Login 400+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Mail Baby SMTP 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 SMTP for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Copyright AI Content Licensing – Block AI Crawlers + Get Paid 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Stars SMTP Mailer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Instant Indexing & Check for Google and Bing SEO 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 affilun — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 NovoForms – Advanced Contact Form Builder — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Frumbik SMTP — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 AI Crawlers Visibility, Analytics & Control 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.