wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “audio gallery”
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 “audio gallery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
CatFolders Document Gallery & PDF Library shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 434 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.
Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303)
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 
Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203)
wp.org #4 ↓2 5 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340)
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 
Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe 1K+ · 4.4★ (89)
wp.org #9 ↓2 10 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434)
wp.org #18 8 too low 11 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2052)
wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12 
Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin 2K+ · 3.8★ (277)
wp.org #12 ↓2 13 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
CP Media Player – Audio Player and Video Player 3K+ · 4.4★ (46)
wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15 
Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260)
wp.org #15 ↓1 16 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 CatFolders Document Gallery & PDF Library 3K+ · 4.5★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑3 10 too high 18 
Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264)
wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 
EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307)
wp.org #24 ↑1 5 too low 20 
Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Playlist & Video Grid 2K+ · 4.9★ (128)
wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 
Photo Gallery by Ays – Responsive Image Gallery 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 
Gallery Box 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 
Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 
Image Gallery Block – Showcase Photos in Stunning Responsive Grids 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.