Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “background editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Section Builder with Backgrounds – Customize with Color, Gradient, Image and Parallax. shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 743 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Advanced WordPress Backgrounds 30K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too low 7 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too low 8 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too low 9 Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 Custom Background Changer 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #15 ↓5 2 too low 14 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too high 16 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 Super block slider – Image/video background & content slider 8K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #18 19 Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 Image Editor by Pixo 700+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Section Builder with Backgrounds – Customize with Color, Gradient, Image and Parallax. 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 E Editor Bridge 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.