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← Rankings

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

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 “pics”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

Ultimate Member – Online Users shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Clone places #7 on merit, 4.1★ from 339 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 wp.org
1 Easy Image Collage 3K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #16 ↓1 13 too low 4 Pic-Time Connect 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #18 ↑1 13 too low 6 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #19 ↓1 13 too low 7 Clone 40K+ · 4.1★ (339) wp.org #22 15 too low 8 Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #23 ↑1 15 too low 9 Local Profile Pics 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 Image Carousel 1K+ · 2.6★ (14) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Cloud SAML SSO – Single Sign On Login 80+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Owl Carousel WP 1K+ · 3.1★ (14) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress 7K+ · 3.7★ (152) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 BP Birthday Greetings 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Pic Tag 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Unlimited Photos – Unsplash images 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Partyline: Reader-Submitted Stories for Local News and Magazines 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Stats4U — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 Ultimate Member – Online Users 3K+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 JNE Shipping – Plugin Ongkos Kirim Resmi Untuk WooCommerce 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Auto Rename Media On Upload 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Pics.io digital asset management for WordPress 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 VideoADShtml5 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.