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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “shipping method”

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 “shipping method”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Postex Advanced Shipping Method shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Weight Based Shipping for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.6★ (83) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Hide Shipping Method For WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 too high 4 WC Hide Shipping Methods 20K+ · 4.2★ (44) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Shipping Live Rates for USPS for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #5 ↑9 6 morkva UA Shipping – Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, Rozetka, Nova Global 1K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Shipping Live Rates and Access Points for UPS for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 Colissimo shipping methods for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.7★ (28) wp.org #6 ↓5 2 too high 9 Flat Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (76) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 Custom Shipping Methods for WooCommerce – Create Weight based Shipping, Conditional Shipping, Table Rate Shipping and much more 3K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Shipping Method Display Style for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (21) wp.org #9 ↑3 2 too high 12 Shipping Simulator for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Conditional Shipping for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too low 14 ELEX WooCommerce USPS Shipping Method 800+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #8 ↓1 6 too high 15 Shipping Live Rates for FedEx for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 No Shipping Message for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #15 ↑3 1 too high 17 Free Shipping Label and Progress Bar for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #22 ↓5 5 too low 18 Cities Shipping Zones for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 WC – APG Weight Shipping 6K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 E Estonian Shipping Methods for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods 1K+ · 3.1★ (8) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Pi – Shipping method dropdown for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Postex Advanced Shipping Method 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓3 10 too high 24 WooCommerce Shipping 70K+ · 2.0★ (18) wp.org #19 ↓13 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.