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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “phone tracking”

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 “phone tracking”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

CallTrackingMetrics shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 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 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 CallRail Phone Call Tracking 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too low 7 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #16 ↑4 9 too low 8 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #10 ↑5 2 too low 9 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #21 ↑3 12 too low 10 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #17 ↓4 7 too low 11 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #8 ↑8 3 too high 12 Simple Business Directory – AI Powered 300+ · 4.9★ (62) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Conversion Tracking for WooCommerce 20K+ · 3.0★ (24) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #6 11 too high 18 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too high 20 Vanquish Shipping Tracking – Order Tracking & Carrier Links for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 CallTrackingMetrics 3K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Lead Generation Contact Widget & AI Chatbot: Chat Button, Phone Call, Telegram, Email – SiteLeads 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 11 too high 24 My Agile Pixel® – Self-Hosted Server-Side Tracking for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.