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

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 “mosaic”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Mosaic Gallery – Advanced Gallery shows at wp.org #1 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Photo Gallery – Responsive Image Galleries by Supsystic places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 498 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4340) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (405) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #8 ↑3 4 too low 5 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #5 6 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Photo Gallery by Re Gallery: Responsive Image Gallery with AI SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #7 8 Photo Gallery – Responsive Image Galleries by Supsystic 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #19 ↑2 11 too low 9 Catch Gallery 10K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Photo Gallery by Ays – Responsive Image Gallery 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Behance Portfolio Manager 300+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 NGG Smart Image Search 400+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 TP Product Image Flipper for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Mosaic Gallery – Advanced Gallery 3K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #1 14 too high 16 Shared Albums for Google Photos 400+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Gallery Block by Galleryberg: Lightbox with Tiles, Masonry, Square, & Justified Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Xpro Addons — 150+ Widgets for Elementor 40K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Animated Live Wall Gallery 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 TP WooCommerce Product Gallery 1K+ · 3.8★ (26) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Social Media Feed Gallery – Fetch Posts & Reels 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 WHA Puzzle 200+ · 3.4★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 jAlbum Bridge 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Bender – Mosaic Image Protection — · 5.0★ (1) 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.