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

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 validation”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Softech Country Phone Validator shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 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 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #4 ↑5 3 too low 2 Smart phone field for Gravity Forms 5K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Phone Orders for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Jquery Validation For Contact Form 7 8K+ · 4.6★ (87) wp.org #5 6 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too low 8 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Phone Validator with Flags for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #3 ↑1 6 too high 10 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #20 ↑2 10 too low 11 OTP Login With Phone Number, OTP Verification 1K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #8 ↓6 3 too high 12 Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Smart Phone Field For WPForms, Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, WooCommerce, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 WC – APG NIF/CIF/NIE Field 10K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Byteplant Phone Validator 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too high 19 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 Address Validation and Autocomplete for WooCommerce | Addressfinder 900+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Real Time Validation For Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22 Multi-Carrier Shippo Shipping Rates & Address Validation for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Softech Country Phone Validator 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 Wawp Country Code & Chat Widget for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.