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

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 transform”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 5 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

Advanced Custom CSS for Elementor shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Login Page Customizer places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 476 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 wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #3 4 GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts 200K+ · 5.0★ (1221) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #13 ↑10 3 too low 11 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #20 ↓2 8 too low 13 Remove Uppercase Accents 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #17 18 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Flexible Spacer Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 Advanced Custom CSS for Elementor 200+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 18 too high 23 UltraAddons for Elementor 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 Change class in viewport: create animations with pure CSS 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 10 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.