wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “effects”

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 “effects”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Unlimited Elements for Elementor places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #1 2

Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #2 3

Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7

Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #3 4 too high 8

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10

Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) heavy footprint wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11

Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #18 7 too low 12

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #19 ↓5 7 too low 13

Confetti – Celebration Effects for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (49) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14

Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15

Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #21 6 too low 16

Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #20 4 too low 17

AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #13 4 too high 18

Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19

HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20

Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓5 2 too low 21

Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #14 7 too high 22

Parallax Section Block – Add Parallax Scrolling Effects to Sections 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23

Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24

Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓5 1 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.