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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “balloon”

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 “balloon”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

LIQUID BLOCKS – Slider, Carousel, Accordion shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ 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

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #1 2 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Word Balloon 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #16 ↑4 11 too low 6 LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Feeds for YouTube (YouTube video, channel, and gallery plugin) 100K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Social Media Feather 10K+ · 4.6★ (506) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Missed Scheduled Posts Publisher by WPBeginner 20K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Loan Calculator WP 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #15 16 DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 SpinupWP 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Snow Monkey Blocks 30K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Interactive World Map 900+ · 3.5★ (17) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Import Shopify To WP 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 22 WPChat – Live Chat & Messaging Widget for Customer Support 6K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 10 too high 23 LIQUID BLOCKS – Slider, Carousel, Accordion 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Interactive Australia Map 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.