Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 display”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 7 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

Simple Location shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widgets for Google Reviews places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 2667 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 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #5 ↑5 1 too low 5 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too low 6 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Kikote – Location Picker at Checkout & Google Address AutoFill Plugin for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (65) wp.org #7 8 User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #11 ↓5 2 too low 10 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 Display Eventbrite Events 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #14 15 Stock Locations for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.8★ (53) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Autocomplete Location Field for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 2K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too high 21 Force First and Last Name as Display Name 2K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Checkout Location Picker for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Multi Location Product & Inventory Management for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Display Event Location for The Events Calendar 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.