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

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

Hierarchical HTML Sitemap shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #2 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #3 4 Insert Html Snippet 20K+ · 4.9★ (237) wp.org #4 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #7 8 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #8 9 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 Image Widget 100K+ · 4.9★ (287) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 CSV to HTML 300+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24 Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.