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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “auto lightbox”

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 “auto lightbox”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Image Ticker & Logo Slider – Continuous Auto-Scroll Carousel with Lightbox shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 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 Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #1 2 Meow Lightbox 10K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #2 3 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Gallery Lightbox 10K+ · 4.7★ (106) wp.org #5 6 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 LightPress Lightbox 40K+ · 4.6★ (72) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #17 ↑5 8 too low 10 Lightbox Images for Divi Enhanced 4K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 ARI Fancy Lightbox – Popup for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #19 ↓3 7 too low 13 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 Thumbnail Slider With Lightbox 700+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo & Video Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Image Ticker & Logo Slider – Continuous Auto-Scroll Carousel with Lightbox 1K+ · 3.6★ (9) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #23 24 Team Circle Image Slider With Lightbox 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #15 9 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.