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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “justify layout”

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

Magical Blocks – Elementor Style Blocks for Gutenberg shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

EmbedPress places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 307 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #1 ↑4 2 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Animated Live Wall Gallery 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Logo Slider WP – Responsive Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery & Logo Showcase 10K+ · 4.5★ (61) wp.org #6 ↓3 7 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too low 8 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 aBlocks – Gutenberg Blocks, User Dashboard Builder, Popup Builder, Form Builder & Animation Builder 2K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #15 ↑8 4 too low 12 JetWidgets For Elementor 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 Kognetiks Chatbot 500+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce – OTP Verification, Block Fake Signups 2K+ · 4.2★ (20) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Quick Download Button 1K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Advanced Marquee Effect for Elementor – Smooth Marquee, News Ticker, Image Box & Icon Box Marquee 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Block Editor Bootstrap Blocks 900+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Magical Blocks – Elementor Style Blocks for Gutenberg 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑1 14 too high 20 Simple Ebook Viewer 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 too low 21 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Card Elements for WPBakery 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 JetGridBuilder — Grid Builder for Elementor and Gutenberg 4K+ · 2.8★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 TZM Responsive Block Controls 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.