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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “country flags”

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 “country flags”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Softech Country Phone Validator shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #5 4 too low 2 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Country Code For Elementor Form Telephone Field 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 SVG Flags – Country Flag Blocks and Galleries 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #21 15 too low 7 Phone Validator with Flags for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #4 ↑2 3 too high 8 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9 Online Active Users 2K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #23 ↓4 13 too low 11 Search Analytics for WP – Site Search Tracking 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #11 ↑13 1 too high 13 Smart phone field for Gravity Forms 5K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 International Telephone Input With Flags And Dial Codes 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 R Restrict Products by Country & Country Catalogs for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 OTP Login & Register Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (44) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19 Smart Phone Field For WPForms, Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, WooCommerce, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 If-So Geolocation 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Softech Country Phone Validator 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Telephone field for Gravity Forms 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 Wawp Country Code & Chat Widget for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 10 too high 24 Country Dropdown For Contact Form 7 800+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 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.