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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom scroll”

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 “custom scroll”, 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

BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 287 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 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 2 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #7 ↑5 2 too low 6 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #12 ↓4 4 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑4 10 Catch Infinite Scroll 10K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 jQuery Smooth Scroll 10K+ · 4.5★ (47) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Post/Page Specific Custom Code 6K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 S Surbma | Smooth Scroll 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #16 ↑2 17 Simple Scroll To Top WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Custom iFrame – Embed PDFs, Videos, and External Content in WordPress (Elementor & Gutenberg) 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 Custom Site Logo 1K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 X-Scroll To Top – Responsive 200+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Scroll Down Arrow 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑2 9 too high 23 Top-Down Scroll – Customizable Scroll to Top Button 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 Horizontal Slider with Scroll 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.