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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hero block”

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 “hero block”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Block Patterns for Food Bloggers shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 700+ 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

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4755 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 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #1 2 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #2 3 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Gutenslider — Slider Block for the Block Editor 10K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #18 ↑1 10 too low 9 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #23 ↑1 13 too low 11 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #22 ↓15 11 too low 12 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Video Popup Block – YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok Lightbox by WPZOOM 10K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks – CoBlocks 300K+ · 4.2★ (109) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Snow Monkey Blocks 30K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 Block Patterns for Food Bloggers 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Simple Slider Block – Create Sliders From Core Blocks 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 Flexa Block – Blocks & Page Builder 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Portfolio Block – The Ultimate Project & Portfolio Builder 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 Slider and Carousel Block – Responsive, Accessible 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 10 too high 24 Date Filters, Date Picker & Unique IDs for Gravity Forms – Hero Add-On 70+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.