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

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 slider”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Fancy Elements for Avada shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 361 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Product Slider, Product Grid, Product Masonry 9K+ · 4.3★ (86) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Gallery Lightbox 10K+ · 4.7★ (106) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Addon Elements for Elementor (formerly Elementor Addon Elements) 80K+ · 4.8★ (172) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 PowerPack Lite for Beaver Builder 6K+ · 5.0★ (243) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Image Slider 4K+ · 3.4★ (31) wp.org #5 ↑1 8 too high 14 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Lightbox slider – Responsive Lightbox Gallery 3K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 GIGA Slider 100+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 MetaSlider Gallery – Image Gallery, Lightbox Galleries, Video Galleries 10K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too high 19 Fancy Elements for Avada 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↓1 16 too high 20 GutenBee – Gutenberg Blocks 6K+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #21 22 Fancy Post Grid – Ultimate Post Grid Builder 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 16 too high 23 WPB Addons for Elementor – News Ticker, Timeline, Team & More Widgets 3K+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #23 24 Image Slider Slideshow 2K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #10 14 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.