wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “personal portfolio”

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 “personal portfolio”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Portfolio Responsive Gallery shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 265 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3

Responsive Filterable Portfolio Gallery – Media Grid & Video Portfolio 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #8 4 too low 5

GS Pinterest Portfolio – Pins Grid, Masonry, User Profile, Popup & Board Widgets 1K+ · 4.8★ (47) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #10 4 too low 7

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #11 ↑6 4 too low 8

Portfolio Block – The Ultimate Project & Portfolio Builder 800+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #1 7 too high 9

Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10

Gallery PhotoBlocks 3K+ · 5.0★ (76) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11

Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #19 8 too low 12

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #22 10 too low 13

Xpro Addons — 150+ Widgets for Elementor 40K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14

Portfolio by BestWebSoft – Work and Projects Presentation Plugin for WordPress 600+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #9 5 too high 15

Personal Dictionary – Vocabulary Games, Memory Games 70+ · 4.8★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #7 8 too high 16

Layouts for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #12 4 too high 17

Inavii Social Feed – Live Social Proof Gallery 9K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too low 18

Layouts for WPBakery 3K+ · 4.4★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #16 2 too high 19

Better Plugin Compatibility Control 4K+ · 4.3★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too low 20

SKT Templates – 100% Free Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too high 21

Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Portfolio Responsive Gallery 200+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #6 17 too high 24

Sight – Professional Image Gallery and Portfolio 3K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 6 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.