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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “icon loader”

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 “icon loader”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 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

Jooosi Icon – Modern SVG icon library for WordPress shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 3055 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 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2 Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #16 ↑6 6 too low 11 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #24 ↓7 12 too low 13 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 Icons Font Loader – use web icons anywhere on your site, fast 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 13 too high 15 PhastPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Preloader 10K+ · 4.1★ (41) wp.org #21 ↓5 3 too low 19 Block for Font Awesome Icons – Searchable Icon Picker, SVG, FA 7 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #6 13 too high 20 Page Loader 2K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 Quick Ajax Post Loader 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑3 13 too high 22 Jooosi Icon – Modern SVG icon library for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↓1 18 too high 23 Payment Gateway Icons For WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 18 too high 24 The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 10 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.