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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “card block”

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 “card block”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

VK Block Patterns shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 303 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Recipe Card Blocks Lite 10K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #1 2 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too low 6 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Business Card Block – present your team and contact info in style 1K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 PW WooCommerce Gift Cards 20K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #18 ↓9 8 too low 11 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #24 ↓2 12 too low 13 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Timeline Block For Gutenberg 9K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Simple Blog Card 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 too high 16 Bookmark Card 700+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 VK Block Patterns 100K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 Gmap Block 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 Easy Tabs Block – Smart, Lightweight & Responsive Tabs for the Block Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Info Cards – Add Text and Media in Card Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 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.