Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “community map”

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 “community map”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #1 2 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) wp.org #2 ↑1 2 too high 5 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 WP Map Block – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store & Shop Locator, Directory, Listings & Filters 20K+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Travelers' Map 1K+ · 5.0★ (46) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↑3 14 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #20 ↑3 6 too low 15 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) 9K+ · 4.6★ (244) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #24 ↓4 5 too low 20 Kikote – Location Picker at Checkout & Google Address AutoFill Plugin for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (65) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 Basic Google Maps Placemarks 2K+ · 4.4★ (51) wp.org #22 ↓4 23 Easy Map – Store Locator, OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Mapbox 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑4 6 too high 24 Alpha Google Map For Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.