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

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 box”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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 Dialog shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #7 ↑5 2 too low 6 Osom Modal Login 400+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10 Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 C Conditional Menus 60K+ · 4.4★ (71) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #23 ↓2 11 too low 13 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Modal Dialog 500+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #9 ↓1 11 too high 21 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 11 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.