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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “360 viewer”

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 “360 viewer”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Photo Sphere Viewer – 360° Virtual Tour, Panorama, 360 Video & AR 3D Viewer shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Image Optimizer, Resizer and CDN – Sirv places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 265 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 360 Javascript Viewer 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 3D Viewer – Turn Product Pages into Interactive 3D Experiences 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #3 4 iPanorama 360 – Advanced Virtual Tour Builder 4K+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #4 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 Image Optimizer, Resizer and CDN – Sirv 1K+ · 4.9★ (265) wp.org #18 ↓1 11 too low 8 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #19 ↓1 11 too low 9 SR Product 360° View 200+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Simple Ebook Viewer 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Panorama – Turn Photos into Immersive Virtual Tours 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Print Page Block – make any page printable in one click 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 HappyVR – Virtual Tour Builder & 360 Panorama Viewer 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 All In One Image Viewer – Zoom, Magnify, Maps & Rotation 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Photo Sphere Viewer – 360° Virtual Tour, Panorama, 360 Video & AR 3D Viewer 600+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 11 too high 17 360 Product Viewer for WooCommerce 300+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 11 too high 18 Advanced Panorama 360 Viewer 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Panorama Block – immerse visitors in 360 degree views 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 LandTech Extras for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Augmented Reality Viewer – 3D Model Viewer 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 R RotaKit – 360° Product Viewer & Spin 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑3 5 too high 23 Easy 3d Model Viewer 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 All Embed – Multi-Source Embed Widgets for Elementor 500+ · 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.