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

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 “liquid”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

LIQUID BLOCKS – Slider, Carousel, Accordion shows at wp.org #2 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ 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

Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 50 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 #5 4 too low 2 LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Migrate To Liquid Web & Nexcess 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 LIQUID RWD Plus 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 WPKoi Templates for Elementor 5K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Event Single Page Builder For The Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 LIQUID BLOCKS – Slider, Carousel, Accordion 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 14 too high 17 Decimal Product Quantity for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #17 18 LIQUID CONNECT 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 10 too high 19 Zaprite Payment Gateway – Accept Bitcoin and Fiat payments in WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 LIQUID TREEMAP 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Smooth Custom Cursor 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 LIQUID TOOLS – Custom Fields, CPT & Security 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 LIQUID SEO Inspector 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Silica 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.