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← Rankings

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

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 “horizontal”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 2 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

Horizontal Slider with Scroll shows at wp.org #5 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 300+ 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

Smart Slider 3 places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1125 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #1 2 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #2 3 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too low 5 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #13 ↑7 4 too low 10 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #20 ↑1 10 too low 11 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Responsive Tabs — Horizontal, Vertical & Accordion Tabs for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (160) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Bootstrap Blocks 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Carousel Horizontal Posts Content Slider 2K+ · 4.1★ (76) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Responsive Gallery Grid 4K+ · 4.7★ (66) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 Twenty20 Image Before-After 20K+ · 4.0★ (54) wp.org #22 ↑2 5 too low 18 fullPage Vertical & Horizontal Slider – Snap Scroll Sections & More 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Gutena Tabs 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Timeline Block For Gutenberg 9K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Horizontal Slider with Scroll 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 18 too high 24 Arts Horizontal Scroll for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 16 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.