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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “admin scrollbar”

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 “admin scrollbar”, 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

Swipe Slider – Make dynamic slider with solid, gradient, or image background shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 1526 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 Scrollbar 300+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #1 2 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #11 ↑5 4 too low 8 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too high 9 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Contact Form Generator : Creative form builder for WordPress 700+ · 4.4★ (67) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Alligator Popup 1K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 Advanced Scrollbar – Give Your Site a Sleek Branded Scrolling Feel 600+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #2 12 too high 15 annasta Filters for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 WPC Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Piotnet Addons For Elementor 20K+ · 3.2★ (57) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Webyx for Elementor – Fullpage Fullscreen Scrolling Websites 500+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Swipe Slider – Make dynamic slider with solid, gradient, or image background 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 15 too high 21 CodeColorer 1K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #21 22 WP Flow Plus 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 Accessible Carousel & Slider – WCAG AA Compliant Slideshow 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.