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← Rankings

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

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 “world”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

World Clocks shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #11 ↑6 3 too low 9 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #12 ↑9 3 too low 10 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #14 ↑4 4 too low 11 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13 W World Cup Predictor 100+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 Interactive World Map 900+ · 3.5★ (17) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too low 19 Basic Interactive World Map 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 Interactive Globes – 3D World Maps 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 World Clocks 100+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 IP2Location World Clock 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓5 2 too low 23 MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 World Domination 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.