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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “anchor scroll”

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 “anchor scroll”, 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.

F

Ranked above its merit

Fast Smooth Scroll shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 800+ 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

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #1 2 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 4 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #4 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 jQuery Smooth Scroll 10K+ · 4.5★ (47) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #22 14 too low 9 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Hash Link Scroll Offset 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 S Surbma | Smooth Scroll 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 GAinWP Google Analytics Integration for WP 7K+ · 4.8★ (126) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 F Fast Smooth Scroll 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Smoothscroller 400+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 fullPage Vertical & Horizontal Slider – Snap Scroll Sections & More 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Copy Link to Heading – Easily add Anchor links for Headings 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Arts Horizontal Scroll for Elementor 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Click to top 2K+ · 2.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.