Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “lightboxes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

FotoGrids – Photo & Video Galleries, Lightboxes, Sliders & More shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #1 2 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #10 ↓4 3 too low 8 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #8 ↑2 9 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #9 10 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too high 11 Meow Lightbox 10K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #11 12 Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #15 ↑5 3 too low 13 WP Image Zoom 10K+ · 4.3★ (119) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #14 15 Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 AI Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – WPBean 1K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 All In One Lightbox – show any media in beautiful popups 3K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 FolioBlocks 70+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Dynamic Tags for Elementor 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 WP Popup 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 SNORDIAN's H5P Resize Pulse 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 Spinnaker Dialog Lightboxes — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 FotoGrids – Photo & Video Galleries, Lightboxes, Sliders & More 400+ · 1.0★ (1) 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.