Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “additional information elements”

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 “additional information elements”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 5 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

Spider Elements – Premium Elementor Widgets & Addons Library shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 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 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #13 ↑4 6 too low 8 Card Elements for Elementor 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 too low 11 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Hash Elements 5K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 10 too high 13 Elements Hive for Breakdance 1K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #24 ↓4 7 too low 18 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Wow Elements Addons for Elementor 60+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓5 3 too high 22 Spider Elements – Premium Elementor Widgets & Addons Library 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23 Fancy Elements for Avada 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Mega Elements – Addons for Elementor 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.