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

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 “spain”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Aplazame shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ 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

Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 3026 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 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #2 3 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WP Mapa Politico España 300+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #5 6 Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #6 7 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #19 ↓1 11 too low 9 Bazz CallBack widget 3K+ · 4.3★ (33) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #13 ↓4 3 too low 11 AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #22 ↓1 11 too low 12 Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Event Organiser 20K+ · 4.6★ (140) wp.org #14 ↑5 1 too low 14 Helper Lite for PageSpeed 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 MONEI Payments for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 WP Abstracts 300+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 Estimated Delivery for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 WC – APG NIF/CIF/NIE Field 10K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 U Urvanov Syntax Highlighter 3K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Keyword Research Tool 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Locatoraid Store Locator 1K+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 ES Football Bypass for Cloudflare 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 YITH WooCommerce Brands Add-On 8K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 Aplazame 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 13 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.