wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “captions”
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 “captions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Exif Caption shows at wp.org #5 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox places #6 on merit, 4.6★ from 498 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742)
wp.org #1 2 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 
Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42)
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498)
wp.org #11 ↑8 5 too low 7 
Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346) heavy footprint
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93)
wp.org #8 ↑2 9 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #10 ↑13 1 too low 10 
FSM Custom Featured Image Caption 5K+ · 4.6★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #6 4 too high 11 
SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134)
wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too low 12 
Media Library Helper — Bulk edit image ALT, caption & description 10K+ · 4.9★ (58)
wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 
Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250)
wp.org #20 ↓6 7 too low 14 
FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92)
wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too low 15 
Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60)
wp.org #16 1 too low 16 
Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95)
wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 
Gallery PhotoBlocks 3K+ · 5.0★ (76)
wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 
Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34)
wp.org #21 ↓5 22 
Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 Exif Caption 600+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #5 18 too high 24 
Carousel Block – Showcase Images in Elegant Sliding Displays 7K+ · 5.0★ (6) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.