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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “html video”

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 “html video”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 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

The Events Calendar places #12 on merit, 4.2★ from 2461 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #1 2 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #2 3 Insert Html Snippet 20K+ · 4.9★ (237) wp.org #3 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #4 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #5 6 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #6 7 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 CP Media Player – Audio Player and Video Player 3K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Video Grid 1K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Protected Video 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Export WordPress Pages to Static HTML & PDF — Static Site Export 4K+ · 3.8★ (51) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #19 5 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.