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

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 “openweathermap”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

Moody Weather shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ 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

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress places #4 on merit, 4.5★ from 155 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 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 wp-forecast 4K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66) wp.org #3 4 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 15 too low 5 Under The Weather 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 ACF OpenStreetMap Field 10K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #23 ↑1 17 too low 7 Weather Forecast Widget 200+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Gutenberg Block Toolkit – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 H HD Weather Widget by The Waypoint 10+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 m1.MiniWeather 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 10 too low 11 PDS Weather 10+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑2 5 too high 12 4WP Weather — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too high 13 FYP Weather — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too high 14 WeatherFlow – Hourly weather forecast widget (1-48 hour forecast) 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too high 15 Spelhubben Weather 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 Explorer Soft Admin Shell — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too high 17 Animated Weather Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 Route Finder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Weather Map — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 Moody Weather 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑2 11 too high 21 Extended Weather 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 Flavors Engine – MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT & AI Agents, Elementor Addons & Theme Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Custom Location Weather — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 ICIT Weather Widget 400+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #24

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.