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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page background”

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 “page background”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #2 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #14 ↑8 7 too low 8 Advanced WordPress Backgrounds 30K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #6 ↑6 2 too high 9 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Custom Background Changer 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too high 15 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #22 ↓3 4 too low 19 Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 13 too high 21 Page View Count 10K+ · 4.0★ (55) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Image Background Remover 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 BlockStrap Page Builder – Bootstrap Blocks 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #23 24 Section Builder with Backgrounds – Customize with Color, Gradient, Image and Parallax. 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 12 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.