wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “status 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 “status tracking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 15 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 #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3

Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #4 ↓1 5

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9

Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 4 too high 10

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #22 11 too low 12

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #24 12 too low 13

ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #16 2 too low 15

Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #21 6 too low 16

ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 ↑6 1 too low 17

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18

Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19

YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 12 too high 20

WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑1 12 too high 21

Tracking and Consent Manager – WP Full Picture 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22

Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (32) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 ↑5 10 too high 23

Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too high 24

Portugal CTT Tracking for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.