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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cool player”

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 “cool player”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Survey Form Block shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #3 2 too low 2 SmartVideo – Video Player and CDN 1K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Photo Gallery by Ays – Responsive Image Gallery 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 s2Member – Excellent for All Kinds of Memberships, Content Restriction Paywalls & Member Access Subscriptions 8K+ · 4.1★ (234) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #15 ↓3 7 too low 9 Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Vimeo, Video Portfolio, Image Portfolio and Image Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 Corner Ad 300+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Product Table for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (295) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 MyBookTable Bookstore by Stormhill Media 1K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #13 ↑2 14 Pixel Gallery Addons for Elementor 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Essential Classy Addons for Elementor – 150+ Widgets, Templates & Performance Tools 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too high 16 Audio Comparison Lite 40+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Ziggeo 40+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too high 18 AZO Ads – Video Ad, Banner Ad, Popup Ad, AdSense Ad & much more 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Survey Form Block 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 13 too high 20 Gallery for Google Photos – share your albums right on your site 1K+ · 2.7★ (6) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Kata Plus – Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Extensions and Templates 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 V Vibraudio Audio Player for PowerPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 KAL-AI – Learning Mentor (LearnDash) | Content Expert (content sites) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 C Community Radio Jukebox — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.