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

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 “animate”, we agree with wp.org 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

Animate My Site shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 400+ 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

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 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 Animate It! 20K+ · 4.9★ (127) wp.org #1 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too low 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too low 4 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Animations for Blocks 10K+ · 4.8★ (27) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #23 17 too low 7 UiCore Animate – Free Animations, Transitions, and Interactions Addon for Elementor & Gutenberg blocks 40K+ · 3.2★ (10) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 Animate In View 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 R RA Widgets Animate 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #24 ↓3 12 too low 13 Animated Live Wall Gallery 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #13 ↓2 14 Animate My Site 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too high 16 Animated Headline 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too high 17 Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #17 ↑2 18 Jeg Kit for Elementor – Powerful Addons for Elementor, Widgets & Templates for WordPress 300K+ · 3.8★ (79) wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too low 19 Skill Bars 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too low 20 WP Counter Up – Animated Number Counter & Milestone Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 WP GIF Uploader – Animated GIF Upload and Thumbnails 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 Animate Any Block – Scroll Animations & Motion Effects for Gutenberg 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 3 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.