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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “bin location”

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 “bin location”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

IP2Location Variables shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

RapidLoad AI – Optimize Web Vitals Automatically places #9 on merit, 4.2★ from 70 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 IP2Location Redirection 7K+ · 4.3★ (43) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 IP2Location Country Blocker 30K+ · 4.1★ (128) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Product Code for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Go Fetch Jobs (for WP Job Manager) 600+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too low 6 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 too low 7 Fast eBay Listings 400+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 IP2Location Tags 200+ · 3.7★ (9) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 RapidLoad AI – Optimize Web Vitals Automatically 600+ · 4.2★ (70) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 DevDome Media Cleaner: Remove Unused Images & Media Library Cleanup 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 AfterShip Shipping: Free Shipping Labels for WooCommerce, Discounted Shipping Rates 200+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #22 ↓2 11 too low 12 FraudLabs Pro for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Order Picking App | Locations for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 Order Picking App | Order Picking, Barcode Scanning & Fulfillment for WooCommerce 30+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too high 15 Pick&Scan Lite – WooCommerce Picking List PDF by Bin Location — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 Gerdoo Orphan Media Cleaner 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 QRAuth – Passwordless & Social Login 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓3 4 too low 18 SnapShots 20+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 IP2Location Variables 100+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 IP2Location Hello Greeting 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 MyTsys Animated Location Map — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Gogasys Media Cleaner: Clean Unused Media, Duplicate Files & Database 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 Ask My Content – AI Search Chatbot 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 WPiko AI Chatbot – ChatGPT Assistant & Customer Support 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.