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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “drop caps”

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 “drop caps”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 3K+ 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

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 1597 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 Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 Easy Form Builder by WhiteStudio – Drag & Drop Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 Disable Media Pages 10K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #19 ↓6 10 too low 10 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Genesis Blocks 40K+ · 3.7★ (24) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too high 13 Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Logo Slider WP – Responsive Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery & Logo Showcase 10K+ · 4.5★ (61) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too low 16 Justify for Paragraph Block 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Mega Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Multi-Step & Conditional Logic 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 Move Addons for Elementor 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Awesome Guten Text – 8 Powerful Blocks for Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Squad Modules Lite – Free Divi 5 & Divi 4 Modules for Divi Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Web and WooCommerce Addons for WPBakery Builder 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 MRW Simplified Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 4 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.