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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “localized date”

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 “localized date”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Input Masks for Elementor Forms shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 600+ 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

HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 170 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WPC Estimated Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Product Customer List for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.9★ (75) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Easy Image Gallery 4K+ · 4.6★ (41) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Zephyr Project Manager 1K+ · 4.8★ (98) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Print, PDF & Email by PrintFriendly 20K+ · 3.8★ (237) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Visibility Logic for Elementor 20K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Sugar Calendar – Events Calendar, Event Tickets, and Events Management Platform 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Chwazi – Delivery & Pickup Scheduling for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Admin Management Xtended 5K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & GDPR) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Bandsintown Events 4K+ · 3.3★ (8) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 NETSENSAI Shield 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Input Masks for Elementor Forms 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 19 too high 24 DayPick: Date Fields for Contact Form 7 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 16 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.