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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “block translation”

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 “block translation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 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 #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 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 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #2 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 The Icon Block 40K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #9 10 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #17 ↑3 7 too low 11 Translate and boost SEO – Automatic AI translation – wpLingua 2K+ · 4.9★ (33) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 AutoMLP – AI Translation for WPML 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Highlighting Code Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 AI Translation For TranslatePress 10K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Timeline Block For Gutenberg 9K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 Table Of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Flip Box Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 17 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.