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

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 “location detection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Multi Location Product & Inventory Management for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #2 ↓1 5 too high 8 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #17 ↑1 9 too low 9 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #21 ↓1 12 too low 10 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too low 13 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Agile Store Locator 10K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 Dynamic Visibility for Elementor 50K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 Multi Location Product & Inventory Management for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 ↓1 12 too high 20 Termageddon: Cookie Consent & Privacy Compliance 8K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓2 10 too high 21 Shipping Packages for WooCommerce – Dropship from multiple locations like AliExpress, eBay, Amazon, Etsy 900+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓5 3 too low 22 If-So Geolocation 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too high 23 User Location and IP 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 Multi Location Marker 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.