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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “play button”

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 “play button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Sp*tify Play Button for WordPress shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 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 Button visually impaired 10K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #1 2 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #5 ↑3 3 too low 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too low 5 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #11 ↑7 6 too low 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 ↑9 2 too low 7 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #9 ↑3 2 too low 8 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 Video Popup Block – YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok Lightbox by WPZOOM 10K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 ↑1 6 too high 13 Razorpay Payment Button Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 11 too high 14 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #18 ↓5 4 too low 15 Lazy Load for Videos 9K+ · 4.4★ (105) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #13 ↓3 4 too high 18 Gutenslider — Slider Block for the Block Editor 10K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Superb Social Media Share Buttons and Follow Buttons 6K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too high 20 Sp*tify Play Button for WordPress 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 13 too high 21 Super Video player – Fully Customizable Video Player with Playlist 2K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #24 ↓4 3 too low 22 Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Garden Gnome Package 4K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #14 ↓5 9 too high 24 Marquee Running Text 5K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #19 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.