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

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 “china”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Blocked in China | Check if your site is available in the Chinese mainland shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Colibri Page Builder places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 80 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 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #1 ↑3 2 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 China Payments Plugin | Accept WeChat Pay, Alipay & UnionPay | Chinese Checkout Optimization 200+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager 10K+ · 4.7★ (369) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements 40K+ · 4.9★ (542) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #18 ↓5 9 too low 10 Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Free Cookie Notice & Consent Banner for Privacy Compliance (GDPR, CCPA, DSGVO and others) 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too low 14 Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Pinyin Slugs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 TrackShip for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 WP Club Manager – WordPress Sports Club Plugin 600+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Blocked in China | Check if your site is available in the Chinese mainland 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑2 16 too high 21 Speed in China | Test Website Speed from Mainland China | GFW Optimization & Google Fonts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 SizeSync – Size Chart & Size Guide for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Airwallex Online Payments Gateway 6K+ · 2.1★ (7) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 C China Video Block 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.