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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “information box”

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 “information box”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Gallery Box shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #4 5 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #5 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too low 7 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too low 8 Coupzy Coupon Box for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #8 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Social Like Box and Page by WpDevArt 5K+ · 4.2★ (88) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Gallery Box 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 Advanced Product Information for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Sitelinks Search Box 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 11 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.