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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “button hover effects”

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 “button hover effects”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #3 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #4 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #13 ↑8 4 too low 10 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #18 ↓2 7 too low 12 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #17 ↓5 5 too low 13 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 Button 2K+ · 4.5★ (53) wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too high 18 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #20 ↓5 1 too low 20 Button Generator – Easily Create Custom Buttons with Icons and Analytics 4K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 15 too high 22 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too high 23 Custom Add to Cart Button Label and Link for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 Floating Button – Easily Create Sticky, Fixed & Floating Buttons 4K+ · 3.0★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓6 5 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.