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

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 “masking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Content Censor shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 489 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #2 ↑4 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #18 ↓3 10 too low 9 PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (283) wp.org #19 ↑2 10 too low 10 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 BWD Elementor Addons 400+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #11 12 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓2 7 too high 13 Content Mask 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #8 ↓3 6 too high 15 Accessibility Tools & Alt Text Finder 3K+ · 4.9★ (69) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16 User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Xpro Addons — 150+ Widgets for Elementor 40K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Content Censor 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 SKT Addons for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Word Replace 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 Set Price Note (Units, Offers, Editions) for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Gum Addon for Elementor 50K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 E Eyes Only 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 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.