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← Rankings

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

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 “display”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

D

Ranked above its merit

Display HTML Sitemap shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4132 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 wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 W WP Display Header 7K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too low 5 Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #16 ↓3 10 too low 7 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #19 ↓4 12 too low 8 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #17 ↑3 6 too low 12 Shipping Method Display Style for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (21) wp.org #11 ↑3 1 too high 13 Display Eventbrite Events 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too low 14 Swap Google Fonts Display: Improve Font Rendering & Performance 10K+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too high 15 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #8 ↑2 8 too high 17 Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 3K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #24 ↓5 7 too low 18 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Force First and Last Name as Display Name 2K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 Product Sort and Display for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.1★ (45) wp.org #20 ↓4 21 Smart Custom Display Name 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 D Display HTML Sitemap 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 D Display Order Details 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too high 24 Display During Conditional Shortcode 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 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.