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

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 select”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 7 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

WC – APG City shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 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 #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 716 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 Cities Shipping Zones for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 RY City Select for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #3 4 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 W WC City Select 2K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #18 ↓6 7 too low 12 Departamentos y Ciudades de Colombia para Woocommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #15 ↑7 2 too low 14 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #14 ↑4 15 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too low 16 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #23 ↓4 7 too low 17 BP Profile Search 5K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #21 ↓4 4 too low 18 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Shipping Simulator for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 WC – APG City 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 If-So Geolocation 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓4 1 too low 24 Select Enhancer for Elementor Forms with Select2 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 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.