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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “i18n”

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 “i18n”, 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

Embed Block for GitHub shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 112 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #1 2 WP-Paginate 20K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Performant Translations 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #3 4 W WP Multibyte Patch 1M+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 WPML Multilingual for BuddyPress and BuddyBoss 6K+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #5 6 Preferred Languages 3K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #6 7 Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #16 ↓1 9 too low 8 Waymark 900+ · 5.0★ (54) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Yandex Metrica 20K+ · 3.8★ (33) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Q qTranslate X Cleanup and WPML Import 800+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #11 12 Flash Toolkit 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 WC Korkmaz Contract – Contracts for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Ajaxified Cart 300+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Wareki 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Gateway for Wise on WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Embed Block for GitHub 400+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 HTTP Security Header 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too low 20 DoFollow Case by Case 1K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 MailCamp 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Advanced Notifications 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Magical Blocks – Elementor Style Blocks for Gutenberg 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 BF Secret File Downloader 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.