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

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 shadow”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Plover Kit – Blocks, Patterns, Responsive Layout and Gutenberg Editor Enhancements shows at wp.org #13 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 D Drop Shadow Boxes 3K+ · 5.0★ (77) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #8 ↑3 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Kubio AI Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (79) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 Button Generator – Easily Create Custom Buttons with Icons and Analytics 4K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 VPSUForm – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder with Email Automation 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Essential Classy Addons for Elementor – 150+ Widgets, Templates & Performance Tools 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Header Footer Builder for Elementor 30K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓7 20 Plover Kit – Blocks, Patterns, Responsive Layout and Gutenberg Editor Enhancements 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 Lightweight Cookie Notice – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 OptinCraft – Drag & Drop Optins & Popup Builder for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Abs – Additional block styles 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 PixeBuilder – Drag & Drop Page Builder & Website Builder 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24

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.