Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “editor visual”

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 “editor visual”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Jamie's Visual HTML Editor shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ 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

User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 738 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 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #4 ↓3 5 Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #10 11 WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #13 ↓4 2 too low 12 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #20 ↓6 4 too low 17 Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Jamie's Visual HTML Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 10 too high 23 Advanced Classic Editor 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too high 24 GTranslate Visual Addon 400+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓5 8 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.