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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hover effective”

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 effective”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Author Bio On Hover – Author Box shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 40+ 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.

Buried gem

Responsive Lightbox & Gallery places #8 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 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #2 3 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Team Members – Multi Language Supported Team Plugin 6K+ · 5.0★ (85) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #5 6 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Vimeo, Video Portfolio, Image Portfolio and Image Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 WowStore – Store Builder & Product Blocks for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Exclusive Addons for Elementor 50K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Real Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Collect Customer Reviews and Video Testimonials 40K+ · 4.7★ (226) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Simple Side Tab 10K+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Logo Showcase Ultimate – Logo Carousel, Logo Slider & Logo Grid 2K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Photo Gallery by Ays – Responsive Image Gallery 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Product Size Charts Plugin for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Social LikeBox & Feed 10K+ · 3.3★ (47) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Floating Button – Easily Create Sticky, Fixed & Floating Buttons 4K+ · 3.0★ (15) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Services Section Block – present your services in clean grids and columns 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 CTA Button Styler 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Author Bio On Hover – Author Box 40+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 Content Slider Block – Bring your content to life with slides 3K+ · 3.2★ (5) wp.org #22 2 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.