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← Rankings

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

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 “locations”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 9 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

Location Pack for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 159 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #1 2 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #2 3 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Stock Locations for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.8★ (53) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #4 ↑4 1 too high 6 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too high 11 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #17 ↓4 5 too low 13 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #24 ↓4 10 too low 15 Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Location Pack for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 ThemeCanvas Locations for Elementor with OpenStreetMap 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 ↑6 10 too high 21 User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #19 ↑2 3 too high 23 Display Event Location for The Events Calendar 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 CM Map Locations – Visualize and share your locations in a few clicks 70+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.