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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “decorations”

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 “decorations”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Advanced Custom Fields: Typography Field shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Gravity Booster – Styles & Layouts for Gravity Forms places #4 on merit, 4.6★ from 199 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too low 4 Gravity Booster – Styles & Layouts for Gravity Forms 30K+ · 4.6★ (199) wp.org #13 9 too low 5 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Rs Christmas Trees – Holiday Decorations, Christmas Garlands & Falling Snow Effect 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #2 ↓1 4 too high 7 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 RichText Extension 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (283) wp.org #18 ↑2 8 too low 11 Pattern CSS – The CSS Editor For Blocks 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12 Table Addons for Elementor 20K+ · 3.2★ (19) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 Easy Accordion Block – Accordion, FAQ & Collapsible Content for the Block Editor 7K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 WP Anchor Header 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 Advanced Custom Fields: Typography Field 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Christmas Panda 400+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 GSlider Blocks 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 DevVN Snow 60+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Image Slider 4K+ · 3.4★ (31) wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 Popcustoms – Print on demand & dropshipping, Free Personalizer 100+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Gum Addon for Elementor 50K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Modern Design Library 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 Boom Fest 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓8 1 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.