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

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 experience”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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

Interactive Globes – 3D World Maps shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 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 #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #4 5 3D Viewer – Turn Product Pages into Interactive 3D Experiences 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6 Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too low 11 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #13 14 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too low 15 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Accordions 20K+ · 4.5★ (90) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Advanced Accordion Gutenberg Block – Create Beautiful FAQs, Content Accordions & Interactive Tabs 9K+ · 4.1★ (34) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Interactive Real Estate – Floor Plan & Building Visualizer 30+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 21 Interactive Globes – 3D World Maps 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 3D Viewer Block – Bring Your Products to Life with Interactive 3D 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 PuzzleMe – Interactive Puzzles for WordPress – Easily publish crosswords, quizzes, word searches and more 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Interactive Promo 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.