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

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 overlay”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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 #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 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

CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 326 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. 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 ↑2 2 Advanced WordPress Backgrounds 30K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 OoohBoi Steroids for Elementor 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode Page & Under Construction 10K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #11 ↑2 5 too low 7 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Custom Background Changer 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓2 6 too high 11 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #3 ↓2 9 too high 13 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Super block slider – Image/video background & content slider 8K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #24 ↓6 9 too low 16 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 Kubio AI Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (79) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18 YITH WooCommerce Quick View 80K+ · 3.8★ (27) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Section Builder with Backgrounds – Customize with Color, Gradient, Image and Parallax. 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 14 too high 21 Message Popup For Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #21 22 FooConvert – AI Popup Builder for Flyouts, Overlays & Bars 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 WPZOOM Portfolio Lite – Filterable Portfolio Plugin 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Etchenet Scroll Video Background Builder 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.