wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “css effects”

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 “css effects”, we agree with wp.org 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

AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 22 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #1 2

Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #2 3

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #4 ↓1 5

CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Blocks Animation: CSS Animations for Gutenberg Blocks 90K+ · 4.8★ (73) wp.org #7 8

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #13 5 too low 9

Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #5 4 too high 10

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #11 ↓1 12

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 ↓5 4 too low 14

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #16 ↓5 2 too low 15

Add Admin CSS 10K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16

AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #9 7 too high 17

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #22 ↑2 5 too low 18

Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too high 19

Confetti – Celebration Effects for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (49) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20

Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too low 21

Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too high 22

Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓6 1 too low 23

Advanced Custom CSS for Elementor 200+ · 4.5★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑4 5 too high 24

Change class in viewport: create animations with pure CSS 60+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓3

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.