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← Rankings

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

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 “pictures”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars shows at wp.org #3 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Profile Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too low 3 One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 Tracking and Consent Manager – WP Full Picture 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #21 ↑2 12 too low 10 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 WP Maintenance 60K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14 Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139) wp.org #15 ↑7 1 too low 15 FileOrganizer – WordPress File Manager 200K+ · 4.8★ (49) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑1 14 too high 18 Revopic – Photo Reviews for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19 Advanced User Avatar | Custom Profile Picture Uploader for WordPress, WooCommerce, and BuddyPress 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↑7 6 too high 20 Images to WebP 9K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 Jetpack VideoPress 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Custom Profile Picture – Replace Gravatar with Your Own Images 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 10 too high 23 Picture Gallery – Frontend Uploads & Image Editor 400+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑5 14 too high 24 Image Prioritizer 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 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.