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

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

Elfi Masonry – Filterable Portfolio & Masonry Gallery Addon for Elementor shows at wp.org #7 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #1 2

Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 3

MediaPress 3K+ · 4.7★ (33) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 6 too low 4

Photo Gallery RB 30+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #3 1 too high 5 N NextGEN Custom Fields 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #10 5 too low 6

Awesome Wp Mixitup Portfolio 100+ · 5.0★ (2) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Awesome Wp Photo Gallery 80+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #4 3 too high 8

Fade in fade out post title 30+ · 5.0★ (1) not PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #6 2 too high 9

Simple Wp Mixitup Portfolio — · 5.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #8 1 too high 10 N NG Gallery Optimizer Modified 20+ · 4.2★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #19 9 too low 11 A Awesome Carousel Slider 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #11 12 M MW Team Gallery — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #12 13 M Magic Image Gallery With Popup — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #13 14 A Awesome Widget Gallery — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #14 15

Elfi Masonry – Filterable Portfolio & Masonry Gallery Addon for Elementor 200+ · 3.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 8 too high 16 H HTML to Shortcode Generator 20+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #16 17 S Simple Responsive Image Slider — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #17 18 E EZ Gallery — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too low 19 X XML Gallery 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #22 3 too low 20 R Random Image Block 80+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too low 21 R Responsive Google Effect Portfolio Grid 10+ · 3.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #18 3 too high 22 U User Access Manager – NextGEN Gallery Extension 10+ · 1.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #15 7 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.