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

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 effects”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 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

Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #1 2 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #2 3 Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #3 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #8 9 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #13 ↑2 1 too low 13 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248) wp.org #14 ↑4 15 Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #6 ↓1 9 too high 16 Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106) wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17 WP Image Zoom 10K+ · 4.3★ (119) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too high 18 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 Image Gallery 3K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Easy Image Gallery 4K+ · 4.6★ (41) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Image Hotspot – Map Image Annotation 3K+ · 4.9★ (22) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.