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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “category lightbox”

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 “category lightbox”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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

WPB Category Slider for WooCommerce – Responsive Product Category Carousel & Enhanced UX shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4132 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #1 2 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 4 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #4 5 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #7 8 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Tabbed Category Product Listing for Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 WPB Quick View Popup for WooCommerce – Fast Product Preview Modal & AJAX Quick View 1K+ · 3.1★ (32) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 WPB Category Slider for WooCommerce – Responsive Product Category Carousel & Enhanced UX 700+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 CatFolders – WordPress Media Library Folders & Categories 6K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Show Post In lightbox 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 WPZOOM Portfolio Lite – Filterable Portfolio Plugin 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Amitry Product & Category Slider for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 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.