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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “author photo”

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 “author photo”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Easy Author Avatar Image shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ 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

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #1 2 Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #3 4 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Revopic – Photo Reviews for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #4 ↓2 3 too high 8 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #17 ↑4 8 too low 10 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Photo Gallery by Ays – Responsive Image Gallery 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too high 13 picu – Online Photo Proofing Gallery 2K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin 2K+ · 3.8★ (277) wp.org #19 ↓4 5 too low 15 Gallery by BestWebSoft – Customizable Image and Photo Galleries for WordPress 10K+ · 4.0★ (158) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Photo Gallery by Re Gallery: Responsive Image Gallery with AI SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 Panorama – Turn Photos into Immersive Virtual Tours 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 About Author 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #12 ↓2 7 too high 20 Easy Author Avatar Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 Change WooCommerce Product Author – Transfer Ownership of WooCommerce Products 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 Image Gallery Block – Showcase Photos in Stunning Responsive Grids 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Gallery for Social Photo 300+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.