wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “boxes”

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 “boxes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

Special Text Boxes shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 21 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #1 2

Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Cool Flipbox – Shortcode & Gutenberg Block 5K+ · 4.8★ (103) wp.org #3 ↑1 4

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint wp.org #4 ↓2 5

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #5 6

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7

Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8

Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑4 2 too high 9

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #13 4 too low 10

Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12

Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too low 13

User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #12 1 too high 14

Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #18 4 too low 15

Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #15 ↓1 16

Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #19 ↑5 3 too low 17

Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332) wp.org #23 6 too low 18

Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #22 4 too low 19

AffiliateX – Amazon Affiliate Plugin, Product Boxes, Comparison Tables & Affiliate Link Tracking 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #11 8 too high 20

Boxzilla – WordPress Popup Builder 20K+ · 4.8★ (133) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21

Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23

Special Text Boxes 1K+ · 3.4★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #8 15 too high 24

MBE eShip 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #17 7 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.