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

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 “yoda”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

DarkAdmin – Dark Mode for Adminpanel shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

EazyDocs – AI Powered Knowledge Base, Wiki, Documentation & FAQ Builder places #3 on merit, 4.7★ from 100 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Feed Them Social – Social Media Feeds, Video, and Photo Galleries 20K+ · 4.7★ (639) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Transient Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 EazyDocs – AI Powered Knowledge Base, Wiki, Documentation & FAQ Builder 2K+ · 4.7★ (100) wp.org #13 10 too low 4 Hello World 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 W WPFrank Companion 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Post Descriptions 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Browser Screenshots 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 Tilopay 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 ES Football Bypass for Cloudflare 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 iLoveIMG 100+ · 3.2★ (5) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Activity Link Preview For BuddyPress 100+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 Wbcom Designs – Birthday Widget for BuddyPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 too high 14 AR Back To Top 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 MIS-Tech Team Directory – Staff Directory, Team Members & Employee Profile Plugin — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 AxesWeb Accessibility Solution 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 ExcelTable for Elementor 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 Chamevo Multistep Product Configurator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Init Chat Engine – Real-Time, Community, Extensible 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Photo Collage 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Serend Animations 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 market-it! EU Guarantee Notice for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 iLoveIMG Watermark 10+ · 1.8★ (4) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 DarkAdmin – Dark Mode for Adminpanel 100+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.