Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “blog design”

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 “blog design”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Classic Blog Grid shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widgets for Google Reviews places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2644 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7308) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4122) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2044) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6 WP Blog Post Layouts 9K+ · 4.7★ (83) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Print My Blog – Print, PDF, & eBook Converter WordPress Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (114) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2131) wp.org #16 ↑5 8 too low 9 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1678) wp.org #17 ↑7 8 too low 10 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth 3M+ · 3.7★ (2407) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2644) wp.org #21 ↓3 9 too low 13 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2526) wp.org #23 ↓9 10 too low 14 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4825) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 EleSpare – News, Magazine and Blog Addons for Elementor 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (332) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 BlogLentor – Blog Designer Pack for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Blogsqode – Blog Layouts and News Post Design 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 Blog Floating Button 9K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 17 too high 22 Import / Export Customizer Settings 50K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Eleblog – Elementor Blog And Magazine Addons 1K+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Classic Blog Grid 4K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #5 19 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.