wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “block content”

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 “block content”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 2 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

Table Of Contents Block shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.4★ from 1445 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 signals wp.org

Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #2 3

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #3 4

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #4 5

Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #5 6

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #9 3 too low 7

Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #7 8

Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575) wp.org #10 2 too low 9

The Icon Block 40K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #6 3 too high 10

Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #11 12

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #23 11 too low 13

Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) heavy footprint wp.org #14 1 too low 14

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #16 2 too low 15

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #17 2 too low 16

SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #18 2 too low 17

Lightbox for Gallery & Image Block 20K+ · 5.0★ (88) wp.org #20 3 too low 18

Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

SVG Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #15 4 too high 20

Table Of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #8 12 too high 21

Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 2 too high 22

Table Of Content Block – Auto-Generate Clickable Table of Contents 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #22 23

VK Block Patterns 100K+ · 5.0★ (2) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #13 10 too high 24

Content Slider Block – Bring your content to life with slides 3K+ · 3.2★ (5) not PHP-current thin reviews 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.