wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “info boxes”

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 “info boxes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Special Text Boxes shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 21 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Cool Flipbox – Shortcode & Gutenberg Block 5K+ · 4.8★ (103) wp.org #1 2

Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #2 3

Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #3 4

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6

Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10

PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11

Qi Addons For Elementor 200K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12

Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) heavy footprint wp.org #12 13

Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint wp.org #8 ↓3 5 too high 14

Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too low 15

AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) heavy footprint wp.org #17 2 too low 16

Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17

Special Text Boxes 1K+ · 3.4★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 13 too high 18

Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 1 too low 19

PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (283) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 5 too low 20

LightPress Lightbox 40K+ · 4.6★ (72) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 21

My WP Customize Admin/Frontend 8K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22

Qi Blocks 60K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Safelayout Elegant Icons – WordPress icons 700+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too high 24

Fancy Elementor Flipbox 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #21 3 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.