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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “css3 button generator”

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 “css3 button generator”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

PDF Flipbook, WPBakery Addon – Unreal FlipBook shows at wp.org #13 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #1 2 Button 2K+ · 4.5★ (53) wp.org #2 3 Animate It! 20K+ · 4.9★ (127) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (264) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Custom Add to Cart Button Label and Link for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars) 1K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #7 8 Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #9 10 Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin 2K+ · 3.8★ (277) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #12 13 Affiliate Super Assistent 1K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Mango Buttons 3K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Elegance Menu 60+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 StagTools 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Matcha Gallery – AI Photo Wall, Masonry & Portfolio Studio — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 FlipEm — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Smart Menupad — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 PDF Flipbook, WPBakery Addon – Unreal FlipBook 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Link Designer – Free Link Designer Plugin for WordPress 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Testimonial or Reviews 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Ultimate Image Hover Effects CSS3 – Photo Gallery Pro 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 E Exclusive Hover effects 20+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.