Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

IP2Location Variables shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Portugal States (Distritos) for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Location Pack for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #3 4 Ubigeo de Perú para Woocommerce y WordPress 4K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Sales Tax Reports For WooCommerce 800+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Wetterwarner 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 7 Buying Buddy IDX CRM – Real Estate MLS Plugin 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8 connectDaily Events Calendar Plugin 90+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #17 ↓3 9 too low 9 Bangladeshi Payments Mobile – MFS Gateway, QR Code, Advance COD Protection, Thermal POS Invoicing & WhatsApp Suite 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 CodeCareBD – Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Sri Lankan Cities for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 7 too high 12 FriendStore for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 OneStudio Vietnam Address for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Custom Shipping Zones for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑5 5 too high 15 KSA National Address Validator 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 BD Address Fields for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Vendso Türkiye Checkout Fields for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓4 2 too low 19 AfriRegions City & Neighborhood for WooCommerce 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Chained Selects for Elementor Forms 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 IPA – Indian Pincode Autofill 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Naked Cat Logo for Livro de Reclamações Eletrónico 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 IP2Location Variables 100+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓3 9 too high 24 Saudi Address Pro 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓5

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.