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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ip location”

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 “ip location”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

IP Locator shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #6 7 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #21 ↑3 10 too low 12 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 IP Geolocation 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Multi Location Product & Inventory Management for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 S Show Visitor IP 300+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 User Location and IP 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 IP Locator 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 IP Address Approval 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Payment Gateways by Customer Location for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 IP & Country Blocker Lite 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.