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← Rankings

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

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 “collapse”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Text Unfold For Elementor shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

QuadMenu – Mega Menu places #7 on merit, 4.5★ from 270 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Accordion FAQ – Compatible With All Page Builder (Elementor, Gutenberg) 30K+ · 4.6★ (676) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Lightweight Accordion 10K+ · 5.0★ (60) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Nav Menu Collapse 3K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #4 5 Collapse Magic 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Advanced AJAX Product Filters 50K+ · 4.7★ (387) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #16 ↑2 9 too low 8 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too low 9 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Button visually impaired 10K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Heroic Table of Contents 5K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Easy Accordion Block – Accordion, FAQ & Collapsible Content for the Block Editor 7K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Bootstrap Shortcodes 4K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Text Unfold For Elementor 3K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Accordions – Responsive Accordion & FAQ Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #7 ↑6 9 too high 17 Accordions 20K+ · 4.5★ (90) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Collapsing Archives 3K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 S SFN Easy FAQ Manager 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Mortar for Bricks Builder 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Bulk Menu Edit 700+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Simple Block Gallery 1K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.