wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gallery load”
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 “gallery load”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
a3 Lazy Load shows at wp.org #13 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 80K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 148 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342)
wp.org #1 2 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #2 3 
Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597)
wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too high 6 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 
Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581)
wp.org #9 10 
Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287)
wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 
Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206)
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 
SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118)
wp.org #10 ↑3 2 too high 13 
Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348)
wp.org #15 2 too low 14 
Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203)
wp.org #14 15 
Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498)
wp.org #16 1 too low 16 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 a3 Lazy Load 80K+ · 4.3★ (148)
wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 
Lightbox for Gallery & Image Block 20K+ · 5.0★ (88)
wp.org #17 1 too high 19 
Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (160)
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112)
wp.org #18 2 too high 21 
Gallery PhotoBlocks 3K+ · 5.0★ (76)
wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 
Product Video Gallery for Woocommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (97)
wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 
Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31)
wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 
Filter Gallery 3K+ · 4.6★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.