Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “photon”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Divi Lightbox for Jetpack Tiled Galleries shows at wp.org #18 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 30+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Regenerate Thumbnails 1M+ · 4.6★ (396) wp.org #1 2 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #2 3 Gallery PhotoBlocks 3K+ · 5.0★ (76) wp.org #3 4 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 a3 Lazy Load 80K+ · 4.3★ (148) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 immonex Kickstart 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 8 Auto Cloudinary 200+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Material Design Icons for Page Builders 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Easy Image Optimizer 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 GatherPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Address Lookup field for ACF 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Vieww Events Calendar – Recurring Events, Event Map & Calendar 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too high 16 Zhekich Feed Generator for Dzen 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 tlloancy Review QR — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Beast Directory — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 WorldReach — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Connectapre – Smart Contact Button — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Modern Maps — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Bitbinders Relocation Quote Estimator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 Divi Lightbox for Jetpack Tiled Galleries 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 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.