wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “moving bar”

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 “moving bar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

FooConvert – AI Popup Builder for Flyouts, Overlays & Bars shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #8 1 too low 8

Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Qi Addons For Elementor 200K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 1 too high 11

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #11 12

Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) not PHP-current wp.org #10 2 too high 13

Media Library Folders 10K+ · 4.3★ (465) wp.org #22 9 too low 14

CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 2 too low 15

Brizy – Page Builder 60K+ · 4.7★ (972) not PHP-current wp.org #24 8 too low 17

AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #21 4 too low 18

Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #19 1 too low 19

Vuukle – Comments, Reactions, Quizzes, Share Bar & Ad Revenue 200+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #20 21

Events Slider, Events Carousel, Events Grid, Events Timeline and Events Filter Bar for The Events Calendar – Eventful 400+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #13 8 too high 22

Delete product images for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #18 4 too high 23

UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

FooConvert – AI Popup Builder for Flyouts, Overlays & Bars 100+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #14 10 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.