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

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 “aria”, we and wp.org disagree 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.

Ranked above its merit

Web Accessibility Toolkit – Accessibility Checker & ARIA for WCAG, Section 508 & ADA Compliance shows at wp.org #2 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 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 signals wp.org

Attributes for Blocks 4K+ · 5.0★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #3 2 too low 2

WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #6 4 too low 3

SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #7 ↑7 4 too low 4

SlickNav Mobile Menu 3K+ · 4.8★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #4 5

The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) not PHP-current wp.org #9 4 too low 6

WP-ShowHide 9K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Better Aria Label Support 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #1 6 too high 8

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #18 ↑1 10 too low 9

Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too high 10

WP Accessibility Helper (WAH) 10K+ · 4.7★ (57) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too low 11

Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #21 10 too low 12

Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #16 4 too low 13

Flexy Breadcrumb 10K+ · 4.7★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too high 14

Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too high 15

Screen Reader Accessibility – WCAG, Text-to-Speech & AI Accessibility Fixes 600+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16

Easy Accordion Block – Accordion, FAQ & Collapsible Content for the Block Editor 7K+ · 4.4★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too high 17

Hide Tooltips on Hover – Clean Up Title Attributes Without Losing Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓4 4 too high 18

Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19

Accessibility by AllAccessible 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20

Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21

Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (162) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22

Web Accessibility Toolkit – Accessibility Checker & ARIA for WCAG, Section 508 & ADA Compliance 500+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #2 20 too high 23

Addon Elementor Container Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #19 4 too high 24

Slider and Carousel Block – Responsive, Accessible 900+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓5 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.