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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “admin language”

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 “admin language”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 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 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Simple Admin Language Change 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too low 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too low 9 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #18 ↑5 7 too low 12 Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too high 13 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #13 ↓4 14 F Featured Image Admin Thumb 20K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 Admin Slug Column 5K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #17 18 Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Admin Management Xtended 5K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Admin Search 1K+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Protect Admin 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Language Switcher for Transposh 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓4 1 too low 23 Rename wp-admin login 9K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 18 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.