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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “google weather”

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 “google weather”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Under The Weather shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 358 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #1 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 Church Content – Sermons, Events and More 3K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 wp-forecast 4K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 WP Travel Engine – Tour Booking Plugin – Tour Operator Software 20K+ · 4.9★ (594) wp.org #18 ↑2 6 too low 13 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #22 ↑1 9 too low 14 Under The Weather 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 WP Travel – Ultimate Travel Booking System, Tour Management Engine 3K+ · 4.7★ (164) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Event Post 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo Gallery & YouTube API 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too low 20 LandTech Extras for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 TheAVCoach Weather Station for WeatherLink 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 WeatherBot Weather Widget 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Global Weather Pro: Weather Widget for WP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 CM Map Locations – Visualize and share your locations in a few clicks 70+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.