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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “banner float”

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 “banner float”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Sticky Content – Make Any Section Sticky on Scroll shows at wp.org #8 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 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 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #1 2 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too low 5 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #23 ↓2 17 too low 7 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Responsive Thumbnail Slider 1K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10 Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo Gallery & YouTube API 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 Lewe ChordPress – ChordPro Text Formatter 100+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #22 ↓2 11 too low 12 Init Ad Engine – Flexible, Multi-Format, Secure 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 9 too high 13 AdX Ad Inserter – Adsense and Ad Manager Ads 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too high 14 bSlider – Build Sliders That Bring Your Content to Life 5K+ · 4.0★ (11) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 CookieBoxs – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 Minimum and Maximum Quantity for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 MaxBoxy: Make WordPress Floating Content, Popup, Alert Bar 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 11 too high 18 Taxonomy/Term and Role-based Discounts for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 CookieKita — GDPR Consent & Cookie Banner 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓2 7 too high 20 MantaWeb Consent Shield – Cookie Consent Banner & Real Cookie Blocker (GDPR, CCPA, Tikun 13) 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Unlimited Elements Blocks Library 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 Webdevez Testimonials Slider for Elementor 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 Zen Addons for SiteOrigin Page Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 Sticky Content – Make Any Section Sticky on Scroll 500+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 16 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.