Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “nextgen”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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.

N

Ranked above its merit

NextGEN Gallery Image Chooser shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ARI Fancy Lightbox – Popup for WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 71 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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★ (4342) wp.org #1 2 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 Robin Image Optimizer – Unlimited Image Optimization, WebP & AVIF 100K+ · 4.4★ (131) wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 Enable SVG, WebP, and ICO Upload 10K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 ARI Fancy Lightbox – Popup for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #23 ↓3 11 too low 13 C Clear Cache for Me 40K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 MaxGalleria 1K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 NGG Smart Image Search 400+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 WP GPX Maps 4K+ · 4.1★ (59) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Geo2 Maps Add-on for NextGEN Gallery 70+ · 3.3★ (12) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 too high 20 N NextGEN Gallery Image Chooser 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 14 too high 21 External files in Media Library 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑3 3 too high 22 FooGallery Migrate 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Migrate away from NextGEN Gallery 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 JSM Adobe XMP / IPTC for WordPress 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.