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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “box shadow”

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 “box shadow”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #7 ↑14 1 too low 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #14 ↑4 7 too low 8 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #19 ↓5 7 too low 13 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too low 14 D Drop Shadow Boxes 3K+ · 5.0★ (77) wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too high 15 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #21 ↑2 6 too low 16 Choosly – Product Variations Swatches for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (76) wp.org #17 ↑3 1 too low 17 Product Category Slider & Grid for WooCommerce – Reno Product Category 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #20 ↓5 3 too low 18 SVG Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Text Unfold For Elementor 3K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 Teydea Login Customizer – Custom Login Page, Branding & Styling 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 Advanced Marquee Effect for Elementor – Smooth Marquee, News Ticker, Image Box & Icon Box Marquee 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24 Product Layouts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #18 ↓5 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.