Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 section”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

Services Section Block – present your services in clean grids and columns shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #9 7 too low 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #11 ↑6 7 too low 5 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #13 ↑5 7 too low 7 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #18 ↑5 8 too low 11 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Section Builder with Backgrounds – Customize with Color, Gradient, Image and Parallax. 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 13 too high 15 Parallax Section Block – Add Parallax Scrolling Effects to Sections 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 ↓1 11 too high 16 Accessibility Tools & Alt Text Finder 3K+ · 4.9★ (69) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Services Section Block – present your services in clean grids and columns 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #5 ↑1 15 too high 21 Image Background Remover 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑2 15 too high 22 fullPage Vertical & Horizontal Slider – Snap Scroll Sections & More 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓5 4 too high 24 Etchenet Scroll Video Background Builder 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑2 7 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.