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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “fancy message box”

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 “fancy message box”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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

Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #2 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #5 6 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #6 7 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #8 9 Exclusive Addons for Elementor 50K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #9 10 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Lightbox slider – Responsive Lightbox Gallery 3K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 eCommerce Product Catalog 7K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #21 ↓3 8 too low 14 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #18 ↑3 4 too low 15 WPComplete 1K+ · 4.1★ (43) wp.org #15 16 Manual Related Posts 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Sliding Cart for WooCommerce by FunnelKit – Skip Cart & Reach WooCommerce Checkout Faster 30K+ · 5.0★ (111) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Slideshow SE 2K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Essential Classy Addons for Elementor – 150+ Widgets, Templates & Performance Tools 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Enter Addons – Ultimate Template Builder for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Contact Form Plugin 2K+ · 2.8★ (17) wp.org #23 24 Ultimate Bootstrap Elements for Elementor 6K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.