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

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 “lightgallery”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 18.

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

Siddik Layout Widgets for Elementor shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its — 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

Portfolio, Gallery, Product Catalog – Grid KIT Portfolio places #5 on merit, 4.4★ from 300 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #11 8 too low 4 Simple lightGallery 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Portfolio, Gallery, Product Catalog – Grid KIT Portfolio 6K+ · 4.4★ (300) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too low 6 ShutterPress Gallery – Masonry, justified and grid galleries, lightbox and infinite scroll 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 MetaSlider Gallery – Image Gallery, Lightbox Galleries, Video Galleries 10K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 TP WooCommerce Product Gallery 1K+ · 3.8★ (26) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Easy Integration for Dropbox – File Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo Gallery & YouTube API 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Album Gallery for Photo & Video 4K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Photo Gallery – Image, Video & Portfolio 1K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Easy Photography Portfolio 2K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 XT Quick View for WooCommerce 300+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 PixeBuilder – Drag & Drop Page Builder & Website Builder 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Siddik Layout Widgets for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 FW Real Estate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Gallerya 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 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.