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← Rankings

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

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 “cities”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Sri Lankan Cities for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 80+ 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

GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 716 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Cities Shipping Zones for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #1 2 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too low 5 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #9 ↑9 3 too low 7 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #15 ↓5 8 too low 8 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 morkva UA Shipping – Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, Rozetka, Nova Global 1K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #17 ↑4 7 too low 11 Shipping Rate By Cities 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 9 too high 12 RY City Select for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #19 ↓3 6 too low 14 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #16 ↓5 1 too low 16 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #18 ↓6 2 too low 17 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #14 ↑3 3 too high 18 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 W WC City Select 2K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #22 ↓9 3 too low 20 Departamentos y Ciudades de Colombia para Woocommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #23 ↓8 3 too low 21 WooCommerce Tax (formerly WooCommerce Shipping & Tax) 500K+ · 2.1★ (106) wp.org #11 ↑9 10 too high 22 Sri Lankan Cities for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 WC – APG City 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓4 10 too high 24 Track Geolocation Of Users Using Contact Form 7 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 3 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.