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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “easy widget”

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 “easy widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Easy SVG Support shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 40K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #7 ↑4 2 too low 6 Easy Appointments 10K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑5 1 too high 11 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #10 ↑3 6 too high 17 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #24 ↓9 7 too low 18 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #15 ↓7 4 too high 20 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Easy Video Player 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Easy Property Listings 5K+ · 4.7★ (112) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Easy SVG Support 40K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 12 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.