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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gallery plugin”

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 plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Photo Gallery – GT3 Image Gallery & Gutenberg Block Gallery shows at wp.org #12 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 147 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Responsive Lightbox & Gallery places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2003 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 ↑2 4 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too high 7 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #8 ↑8 9 Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203) wp.org #9 10 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #15 ↑3 2 too low 14 Feeds for YouTube (YouTube video, channel, and gallery plugin) 100K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #14 ↑3 15 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #18 ↓8 3 too low 16 Photo Gallery – GT3 Image Gallery & Gutenberg Block Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (147) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too high 17 Gallery PhotoBlocks 3K+ · 5.0★ (76) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too high 18 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #21 ↓10 3 too low 19 Gallery by BestWebSoft – Customizable Image and Photo Galleries for WordPress 10K+ · 4.0★ (158) wp.org #16 ↑3 3 too high 20 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 Image Photo Gallery Final Tiles Grid 20K+ · 4.7★ (353) wp.org #17 ↓4 4 too high 22 Lightbox for Gallery & Image Block 20K+ · 5.0★ (88) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Feeds for TikTok (TikTok feed, video, and gallery plugin) 70K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #24

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.