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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “awesome preloader”

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 “awesome preloader”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 6 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

Page Animations And Transitions shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.8★ average from 32 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 #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 434 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ocean Extra 400K+ · 3.3★ (67) wp.org #1 2 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode Page & Under Construction 10K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Ultimate Before After Image Slider & Gallery – BEAF 30K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Safelayout Elegant Icons – WordPress icons 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 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 #7 1 too high 9 WP Smart Preloader 5K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (642) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Filter Gallery 3K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too high 13 Cost Calculator Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (393) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Load More Anything 5K+ · 4.5★ (73) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Elements Plus! 6K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too high 17 Quick View for WooCommerce – Reno QuickView 2K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 BWD Elementor Addons 400+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 Page Animations And Transitions 1K+ · 2.8★ (32) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 AI Translation For TranslatePress 10K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 ElementsCSS Addons for Elementor (Elementor Widgets Extender & Addons) 200+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Image Slider 4K+ · 3.4★ (31) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Preloader Awesome – Page Loading Animation with Spinner & Gif 1K+ · 1.0★ (1) 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.