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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “bento grid”

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 “bento grid”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

PressGo AI — Landing Page & Website Builder for Elementor shows at wp.org #18 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 100+ 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

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 1597 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 Content Blocks Builder – Create blocks, repeater blocks with carousel, grid, popup layouts 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #13 ↓2 8 too low 6 Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #4 ↑4 2 too high 7 Bento Box 80+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10 Bento Grid Gallery 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓4 5 too high 11 ReviewPine: Google Reviews Widget, Slider and Badge 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Sentio Widgets for Elementor 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 BoldSpan Bento Grid — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too high 15 Impress Bento Grid — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 CategorX Category Displays – Product Category Slider, Grid & Bento Grid for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Iris Theme Kit 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Themofy Addons for Elementor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Layout Now — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Hexagon Navigation Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 PistonUI – Elementor Widgets & Blocks 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 MKM Content Layout Studio — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 PressGo AI — Landing Page & Website Builder for Elementor 100+ · 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.