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

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 over”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 3 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

LottieFiles – JSON Based Animation Lottie & Bodymovin for Elementor shows at wp.org #4 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. 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 #1 2 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #2 3 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #10 ↓3 3 too low 8 Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Related Posts Thumbnails 20K+ · 4.9★ (234) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 WP Image Zoom 10K+ · 4.3★ (119) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too high 11 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 LottieFiles – JSON Based Animation Lottie & Bodymovin for Elementor 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too low 14 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #24 ↓6 8 too low 17 Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 Brands for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (76) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 Before After Image Comparison – Visual Comparison for Two Images 3K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 Fast Page & Post Duplicator 50K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Image Hotspot – Map Image Annotation 3K+ · 4.9★ (22) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 Super block slider – Image/video background & content slider 8K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 Calendar 4K+ · 3.7★ (24) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Masonry Gallery & Posts For Divi (WP Tools) 700+ · 2.8★ (5) wp.org #20 ↑1 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.