wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hover”
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 “hover”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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
Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 616 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250)
wp.org #3 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #8 4 too low 5 
Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406)
wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 
Weblizar Pin It Button On Image Hover And Post 10K+ · 4.0★ (64)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓3 2 too low 9 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #13 ↓4 4 too low 10 
Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525)
wp.org #14 ↑5 4 too low 11 
Hide Tooltips on Hover – Clean Up Title Attributes Without Losing Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #4 7 too high 12 
AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #7 5 too high 13 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑11 1 too high 14 
Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149)
wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↓4 5 too low 16 
Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #21 ↓4 4 too low 18 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 
HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 
Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59)
wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 
Image Hover Effects – WordPress Plugin 3K+ · 4.4★ (42) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓5 5 too high 22 Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #6 16 too high 23 
Image Hover Effects For WPBakery Page Builder 3K+ · 4.3★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓5 4 too high 24 
Image Zoom on Hover 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #18 6 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.