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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tracking orders”

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 “tracking orders”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 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 #16 on merit, a gap of 9 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

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 488 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 wp.org
1 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #1 2 CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #4 5 AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.7★ (337) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 Sequential Order Number for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.9★ (146) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17 Conversion Tracking for WooCommerce 20K+ · 3.0★ (24) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 PRENA – Product Pre-Orders for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #18 19 User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 Wp Tracking Codes 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Portugal CTT Tracking for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 Vanquish Shipping Tracking – Order Tracking & Carrier Links for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 Tracking Script Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 2 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.