wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “counts section”

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 “counts section”, 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

Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites shows at wp.org #1 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 400+ 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

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1056 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #2 1 too low 2

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #8 4 too low 5

GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #10 4 too low 7

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #15 6 too low 10

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #14 4 too low 11

BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #6 5 too high 12

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #20 8 too low 13

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #13 14

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #12 2 too high 15

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #16 1 too low 16

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #21 5 too low 17

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #19 2 too low 18

Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (1) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #1 17 too high 19

WP-PostViews 90K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #18 1 too high 20

Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #22 2 too low 21

MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Sortable Word Count Reloaded 2K+ · 3.7★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #11 12 too high 24

Section Blocks – Landing Page Sections for the Block Editor 10+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #17 7 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.