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

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 “subdivisions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Daleel – Arabic States for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 40+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1643) wp.org #1 2 L Listo 7K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #2 3 FAZ Cookie Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 IMPress for IDX Broker 7K+ · 3.1★ (34) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 GPTranslate – Multilingual AI Translation Agent for WordPress: Translate Your Site with AI 500+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too low 6 Optima Express IDX 10K+ · 3.2★ (45) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 SimplyRETS Real Estate IDX 200+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Flexmls® IDX Plugin 1K+ · 3.5★ (22) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 Dienstplan 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Daleel – Arabic States for WooCommerce 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Interactive Map Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 P Personal SEO Crosslinking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Autoanaf E-Invoicing for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 GivePayments for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 AeroIDX – Real Estate IDX Search, MLS Listings & Lead Capture — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 XYZ Age Verification — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Simons FrameKiller — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 SEO RETS 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Foxlis Geo 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 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.