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← Rankings

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

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 “fun”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Wavy Divider shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Feeds for YouTube (YouTube video, channel, and gallery plugin) places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 205 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #1 2 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #2 3 HD Quiz 6K+ · 4.9★ (145) wp.org #3 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #7 8 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Quiz Cat – WordPress Quiz Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Feeds for YouTube (YouTube video, channel, and gallery plugin) 100K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #23 ↑1 11 too low 13 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too high 14 ShareThis Dashboard for Google Analytics 80K+ · 3.6★ (138) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Maintenance & Coming Soon Redirect Animation 3K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Assistant – Every Day Productivity Apps 4K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Counter Number Showcase, Fun Facts – WordPress Animated Counter Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (190) wp.org #22 ↓3 5 too low 18 WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Lucky Wheel for WooCommerce – Spin a Sale 1K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Advanced Product Search For WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 BEA – Sanitize Filename 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Morning for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Wavy Divider 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 ShareThis Reaction Buttons 600+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.