wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “inline styles”

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 “inline styles”, 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

Inline Tooltips shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Max Mega Menu places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 882 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

Style Kits for Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #3 ↓2 4

SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #4 5

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #6 ↑4 1 too low 6

Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #9 3 too low 7

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too low 8

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #17 ↑1 9 too low 9

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #22 ↓2 13 too low 10

AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #16 6 too low 11

OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #21 10 too low 12

Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #20 ↓5 8 too low 13

Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #19 6 too low 14

Attributes for Blocks 4K+ · 5.0★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15

Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16

No unsafe-inline 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓2 8 too high 17

Inline Tweet Sharer – Twitter Sharing Plugin 300+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18

Abs – Additional block styles 400+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #5 13 too high 19

MrSeokar Inline Related Products for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #12 7 too high 20

Disable Global Style 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too high 21

Inline Context – Footnotes, Tooltips & Glossary Notes 40+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑2 7 too high 22 I Inline Tooltips 70+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #7 15 too high 23

Image Prioritizer 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓2 13 too high 24

Optimize Scripts & Styles 60+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews 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.