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

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 post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.0★ from 556 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #1 2 Easy Modal 7K+ · 4.4★ (124) wp.org #2 3 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Ocean Modal Window 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #8 ↑7 10 too high 19 WP Ultimate Post Grid 4K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Modal Dialog 500+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too high 21 Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Modal Post Images 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Modal COD Form for woocommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.