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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “aurora background”

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 “aurora background”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Awesome Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode shows at wp.org #6 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 100+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 Parallax Section Block – Add Parallax Scrolling Effects to Sections 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #5 6 Active Woot Products Tables for WooCommerce. 100% FREE 1K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓2 12 too low 7 Website Maintenance – PTI 10+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Giuliomax Menu Builder 20+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 GoodMeet – Meetings & Classes for Google Meet 90+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↓3 3 too low 10 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 LMSCrafter Gradient Text for Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 OXP Breaking News Ticker 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 ZooMeet – Meeting & Webinar Integration for Zoom 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 14 Awesome Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Animation Kit – Animated Backgrounds & WebGL Effects 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Polanger Admin Suite – Secure, Control & Customize WordPress Admin 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 GriffinForms – Contact Form and Form Builder 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Loginflux — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 AMSites Login Customizer 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 DreamFast Login Studio — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Quiz Builder by WiVi – Online Exam & Quiz Maker 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Remedolt Giriş Sayfası Özelleştirici — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 Intelligent Admin Engine — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 BookPress – PDF eBook Maker 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.