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

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

Modal COD Form for woocommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 995 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ocean Modal Window 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #1 2 Easy Modal 7K+ · 4.4★ (124) wp.org #2 3 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #6 ↑4 3 too low 4 Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Light Modal Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #13 ↑2 6 too low 8 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 Osom Modal Login 400+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #24 ↓6 12 too low 13 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #18 ↑3 5 too low 14 Instant Images – One-click Image Uploads from Unsplash, Openverse, Pixabay, Pexels, and Giphy 100K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #21 ↑3 7 too low 15 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #23 ↓7 8 too low 16 SearchWP Modal Search Form 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Modal Dialog 500+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too high 18 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Modal Fly Cart & AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 WP Modal Popup with Cookie Integration 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 YITH WooCommerce Quick View 80K+ · 3.8★ (27) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Search Modal Block 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 Modal COD Form for woocommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 4 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.