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

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 “italy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

InPost Italy shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ 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

Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 3026 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #15 ↓2 10 too low 6 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #20 ↑1 14 too low 7 Gallery Lightbox 10K+ · 4.7★ (106) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) wp.org #5 ↑3 3 too high 9 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 HTML5 Maps 4K+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS 8K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #10 ↑5 2 too high 13 WC – APG NIF/CIF/NIE Field 10K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 Keyword Research Tool 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 Nexi XPay 7K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓1 9 too high 16 Locatoraid Store Locator 1K+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 InPost Italy 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 13 too high 18 Aruba Fatturazione Elettronica 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑2 9 too high 19 Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 ANAC XML Viewer 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 YITH WooCommerce Brands Add-On 8K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 ProScores – Live Scores 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 SizeSync – Size Chart & Size Guide for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 MBE eShip 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #23 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.