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

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 dropdown”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Sri Lankan Cities for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 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

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #1 2 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Cities Shipping Zones for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #15 ↓3 10 too low 6 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #12 ↑8 6 too low 7 RY City Select for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #17 ↓4 9 too low 9 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #23 ↓2 14 too low 10 W WC City Select 2K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #16 ↑3 5 too low 12 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (56) wp.org #13 ↓3 14 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #18 ↓4 4 too low 15 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #21 ↓6 4 too low 18 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Departamentos y Ciudades de Colombia para Woocommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #10 ↓2 9 too high 20 User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #20 ↓4 21 Sri Lankan Cities for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 I Israel cities dropdown 30+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 14 too high 23 Dropdown Search Option for Contact Form 7 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓3 9 too high 24 Colciudades – Ciudades de Colombia para WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑6 13 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.