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

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 effect”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Section Builder with Backgrounds – Customize with Color, Gradient, Image and Parallax. shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 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

Unlimited Elements for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #1 2 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Advanced WordPress Backgrounds 30K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #13 ↑6 8 too low 6 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 ↑8 2 too low 9 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too low 10 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #18 ↓3 7 too low 12 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #21 ↑3 9 too low 13 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #23 ↓3 9 too low 15 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #2 13 too high 16 Super block slider – Image/video background & content slider 8K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too low 18 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 12 too high 20 Parallax Section Block – Add Parallax Scrolling Effects to Sections 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 Advanced Marquee Effect for Elementor – Smooth Marquee, News Ticker, Image Box & Icon Box Marquee 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too high 23 Section Builder with Backgrounds – Customize with Color, Gradient, Image and Parallax. 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Image Background Remover 300+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.