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

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 images”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

ImageLinks – Interactive Image Builder with Hotspots shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 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

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #10 ↑3 4 too low 7 Interactive Image Map Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #11 ↑4 2 too low 10 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #18 ↑1 7 too low 12 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too low 13 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #16 ↓5 2 too low 15 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Interactive Content – H5P 40K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 MapSVG – Vector maps, Image maps, Google Maps 1K+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 ImageLinks – Interactive Image Builder with Hotspots 1K+ · 3.9★ (9) wp.org #6 ↓1 13 too high 20 Image Hotspot – Map Image Annotation 3K+ · 4.9★ (22) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Shoppable Images (Lookbook) for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Interactive Image 200+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Interactive Globes – 3D World Maps 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 WP Before After Image Slider – Interactive Image and Video Comparison Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 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.