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

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 “interactivity”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

Tabs Block – Responsive Gutenberg Tabs for Block Editor shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 700+ 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

3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 182 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #1 2 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #8 ↓3 5 too low 4 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #10 ↑2 6 too low 5 Embed Lottie Player – bring your pages to life with animation 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #16 ↓1 10 too low 7 Caddy – WooCommerce Side Cart & Free Shipping Bar 3K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Marquee Block 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Mapster WP Maps 3K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #20 ↓4 10 too low 11 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Addon Elementor Container Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Chart Block – Visualize Data with Bar, Line, Pie Charts 1K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Random Posts and Pages Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 18 Tabs Block – Responsive Gutenberg Tabs for Block Editor 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 13 too high 19 Verge3D Publishing and E-Commerce 400+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 LottieFiles 7K+ · 2.3★ (18) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Category Filter Block 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 rtCarousel – Flexible Carousel & Slider Block for Images, Videos, Testimonials & More 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓2 11 too high 23 WP Subscription Forms – Subscription Form Plugin for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Lordicon 600+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.