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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “weather block”

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 “weather block”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Weather Widget & Forecast by Meteoprog shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Unlimited Elements For Elementor places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 522 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #1 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1677) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Weather Atlas Widget 8K+ · 4.1★ (41) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WP Travel Engine – Tour Booking Plugin – Tour Operator Software 20K+ · 4.9★ (593) wp.org #17 ↑1 10 too low 8 Unlimited Elements For Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (522) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 Under The Weather 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 70K+ · 4.1★ (65) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Social Media Icon Widget – Social Profile Links with Gutenberg Block 4K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Event Post 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 Wetterwarner 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Blockenberg — 600+ Advanced Gutenberg Blocks & AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 AI Search for WooCommerce – Semantic Search & Live-Search Block 60+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 ↑3 6 too low 16 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Weather Write 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Unlimited Elements Blocks Library 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Weather Widget & Forecast by Meteoprog 50+ · 2.7★ (3) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Gutenberg Block Toolkit – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Tides Today Tides and Weather 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 Global Weather Pro: Weather Widget for WordPress 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 WeatherBot Weather Widget 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Elfsight Blocks 3K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #15 9 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.