wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dynamic visibility”

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 “dynamic visibility”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Dynamic ACF Repeater for Elementor shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Dynamic Visibility for Elementor 50K+ · 4.6★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

Visibility Logic for Elementor 20K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #2 3

Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #3 4

If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #4 3 too high 8

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #12 4 too low 9

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10

Wholesale Suite – B2B, Dynamic Pricing & WooCommerce Wholesale Prices 20K+ · 4.8★ (546) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 1 too low 11

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #15 ↑4 4 too low 12

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #23 11 too low 13

Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #13 ↑1 14

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #24 ↓2 10 too low 15

Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 4 too low 16

JetFormBuilder — Dynamic Blocks Form Builder 80K+ · 4.2★ (72) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17

Dynamic Time 200+ · 4.7★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18

Dynamic AJAX Product Filters for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #10 8 too high 19

ELEX WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing and Discounts 700+ · 4.3★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20

Conditional Blocks – Advanced Content Visibility Control for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21

Dynamic ACF Repeater for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 14 too high 22

Visibility Controls for Editor Blocks 900+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #9 13 too high 23

Meerkat Markdown for AI Visibility 70+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Dynamic Product Category Grid, Slider for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.