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

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 “mainland”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

EU Parcel Tariff for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its — 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

Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes places #5 on merit, 4.6★ from 251 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Shipping Validation for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 China Payments Plugin | Accept WeChat Pay, Alipay & UnionPay | Chinese Checkout Optimization 200+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Blocked in China | Check if your site is available in the Chinese mainland 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #21 ↓1 16 too low 6 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #22 ↓1 16 too low 7 WP Weixin 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Rapls AI Chatbot – Self-Hosted RAG & MCP Server 80+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓1 15 too low 9 Payment gateway for WooCommerce – Woo WeChatPay 70+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 Speed in China | Test Website Speed from Mainland China | GFW Optimization & Google Fonts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 JennyStudio Identicons 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 ScanForPay – Alipay & AlipayHK & WechatPay Payment Solutions for WooCommerce 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Parcel Forwarding & Package Consolidation for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Customs – EU Import Duty for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Gyta Buyback | WooCommerce Product Trade-In and Buy Back System 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 Advanced Shipping Rate Builder – Table Rate, Conditional & Weight Based Shipping 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 ICP Registration Home 404 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 EU Parcel Tariff for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 Restrictor de Envíos España — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Minor Islands Shipping for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 flatin.pt — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 PotoSales Order Entry for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Verifactu para WooCommerce (Finseed) — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 WPAvatar 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.