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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “image border”

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 “image border”, 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

Image Gallery Block shows at wp.org #14 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 498 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #1 2 WP Image Zoom 10K+ · 4.3★ (119) wp.org #2 3 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #3 4 Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Image Gallery 3K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #9 10 Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #11 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Smart Image Resize for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #13 14 Easy Image Collage 3K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Interactive Image Map Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 AI Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – WPBean 1K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Image Gallery Block 4K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Before After Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Image Gallery Block – Showcase Photos in Stunning Responsive Grids 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Advanced Image Comparison for Elementor 1K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 WP Before After Image Slider – Interactive Image and Video Comparison Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.