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

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 “contrast”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

DJ-Accessibility – Accessibility Plugin shows at wp.org #14 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #1 2 AccessiYes Accessibility Widget for ADA, EAA & WCAG Readiness 20K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #2 3 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #3 4 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #4 ↑6 5 WP Accessibility Helper (WAH) 10K+ · 4.7★ (57) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Fourteen Colors 8K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 bbp style pack 6K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too low 10 Accessibility Tools & Alt Text Finder 3K+ · 4.9★ (69) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (162) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Screen Reader Accessibility – WCAG, Text-to-Speech & AI Accessibility Fixes 600+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 WP Swiper 5K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Simple Accessibility Button 900+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too high 15 SOGO Accessibility 5K+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 tarteaucitron.io – Cookie Banner & GDPR Consent Management 10K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Pagination Styler for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Editoria11y Accessibility Checker 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Accessibility Tool Kit: WP Accessibility checker plugin for WCAG, Section 508, ADA, EAA Compliance 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Real Accessibility: Accessibility Widget & Toolbar 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 DJ-Accessibility – Accessibility Plugin 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Accessible Carousel & Slider – WCAG AA Compliant Slideshow 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓5 7 too high 24 Web Accessibility Toolkit – Accessibility Checker & ARIA for WCAG, Section 508 & ADA Compliance 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.