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

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 loader”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Classic Addons – WPBakery Page Builder shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

StoreCustomizer – A plugin to Customize all WooCommerce Pages places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 127 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #2 3 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 NextMove Lite – Thank You Page for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #9 ↑3 5 too low 5 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #12 ↓2 7 too low 6 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #14 ↑4 8 too low 7 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #19 ↑1 12 too low 8 AboveWP Page Loader 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 StoreCustomizer – A plugin to Customize all WooCommerce Pages 20K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 RabbitLoader 1K+ · 4.5★ (67) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 Page Loader 2K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #10 ↓3 2 too high 13 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #18 ↓4 5 too low 14 LoftLoader 70K+ · 4.5★ (33) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 GTM Kit – Google Tag Manager & GA4 integration 30K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Ajax loader + Cache 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 Icons Font Loader – use web icons anywhere on your site, fast 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓2 12 too high 18 KCSG Kartra Pages 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 Quick Ajax Post Loader 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Classic Addons – WPBakery Page Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Vagizov Metrika Loader 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑2 11 too high 23 KineticHub Page Loader – Preloader & Branded Loading Screen 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 PageFluent – Smooth Page Transitions & Loader 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.