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

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 “caption”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Autobute – Auto Image Alt Text, Title & Caption for Image SEO shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current wp.org #6 ↓2 3 too low 4

FSM Custom Featured Image Caption 5K+ · 4.6★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6

Exif Caption 600+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #1 5 too high 7

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #8 1 too low 8

Media Library Helper — Bulk edit image ALT, caption & description 10K+ · 4.9★ (58) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #9 ↑1 10

Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #13 ↑7 3 too low 11

Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346) heavy footprint wp.org #11 ↓2 12

Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↑12 1 too high 14

Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #21 ↓6 7 too low 15

FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16

Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #17 1 too low 17

ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #19 2 too low 18

Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #14 4 too high 19

Gallery PhotoBlocks 3K+ · 5.0★ (76) wp.org #23 ↓4 4 too low 20

Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21

Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #22 ↓4 1 too low 22

Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23

Carousel Block – Showcase Images in Elegant Sliding Displays 7K+ · 5.0★ (6) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24

Autobute – Auto Image Alt Text, Title & Caption for Image SEO 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓3 9 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.