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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “interactive”

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 “interactive”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

ImageLinks – Interactive Image Builder with Hotspots shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 wp.org
1 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 Interactive Content – H5P 40K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too low 9 Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too high 10 Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Interactive Image Map Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 3D Viewer – Turn Product Pages into Interactive 3D Experiences 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Interactive World Map 900+ · 3.5★ (17) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 ImageLinks – Interactive Image Builder with Hotspots 1K+ · 3.9★ (9) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Interactive US Map – Create Clickable & Customizable U.S. Maps 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Interactive Globes – 3D World Maps 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 Interactive Image 200+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 Interactive Australia Map 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 Interactive Promo 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.