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

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 “mouse”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Animated Mouse Cursor Trail shows at wp.org #1 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 4132 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #12 ↓3 6 too low 7 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too high 8 Advanced WordPress Backgrounds 30K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #7 ↑6 1 too high 9 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #11 ↓4 2 too low 10 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #10 ↓4 11 Animated Mouse Cursor Trail 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #1 10 too high 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #13 ↑2 14 Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too low 15 WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 TP Product Image Flipper for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #8 ↓3 8 too high 17 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #16 ↑7 1 too high 18 B Before After Image Comparison Slider for Elementor 10K+ · 4.4★ (96) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 Auto Hide Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too low 20 Super block slider – Image/video background & content slider 8K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too high 21 LottieFiles – JSON Based Animation Lottie & Bodymovin for Elementor 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 Signature field for Elementor Forms 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓3 8 too high 23 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Smooth Custom Cursor 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.