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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “browser shot”

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 “browser shot”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Image Quality Control | Still BE shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits places #11 on merit, 4.5★ from 212 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 wp.org
1 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #1 2 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Quick Adsense 20K+ · 3.9★ (74) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too high 6 Advanced iFrame 40K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 FV Flowplayer Video Player 10K+ · 4.4★ (90) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 Browser Screenshots 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 MoreConvert Wishlist for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too low 12 Media Hygiene: Remove or Delete Unused Images and More! 4K+ · 4.2★ (41) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Rearrange Products for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too low 14 Awesome Support – WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin 6K+ · 3.5★ (194) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 ImagePress – Front-End Photo Uploads & Member Galleries 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Voice Audio Widgets – Voice recorder with Forms, AI Powered STT, TTS, Transcriptions, Language Teaching 300+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #24 ↓6 8 too low 17 WP Email Template 2K+ · 3.1★ (35) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Squad Modules Lite – Free Divi 5 & Divi 4 Modules for Divi Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #23 ↓3 5 too low 19 Image Quality Control | Still BE 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 7 too high 20 SNORDIAN's H5PxAPIkatchu 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Genolve – AI Business Graphics, Images & Video 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 SkyLang Auto Translator for Polylang 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑3 3 too high 23 Image Gallery Block – Showcase Photos in Stunning Responsive Grids 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Antimanual Builder – Truly AI Powered Visual Page Builder 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.