wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lightbox plus”
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 “lightbox plus”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Image Ticker & Logo Slider – Continuous Auto-Scroll Carousel with Lightbox shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95)
wp.org #2 3 
Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
MetaSlider Gallery – Image Gallery, Lightbox Galleries, Video Galleries 10K+ · 4.4★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #3 5 too high 9 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #19 9 too low 11 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) heavy footprint
wp.org #11 1 too high 13 
SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118)
wp.org #17 4 too low 14 
Responsive Lightbox 10K+ · 4.6★ (42)
wp.org #12 2 too high 15 
Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 7 too low 16 
Video Popup – Video Lightbox for YouTube, Vimeo & MP4 10K+ · 4.5★ (43)
wp.org #14 2 too high 17 
Elements Plus! 6K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #13 4 too high 18 
Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Image Photo Gallery Final Tiles Grid 20K+ · 4.7★ (353) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
ShapedGallery – Photo Gallery, Image Gallery, Video Gallery & Lightbox 1K+ · 4.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #9 11 too high 21 
Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #21 22 Image Ticker & Logo Slider – Continuous Auto-Scroll Carousel with Lightbox 1K+ · 3.6★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #10 12 too high 23 
WP Flow Plus 800+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 
Team Circle Image Slider With Lightbox 300+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #16 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.