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

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 “portfolios”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 2 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

Themify Portfolio Post shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 30K+ 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.

Buried gem

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 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 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #7 ↑5 3 too low 5 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Radius Portfolio – Filterable Grid, Gallery & Slider Portfolio 7K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too high 7 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #12 ↓7 3 too low 10 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #18 ↑5 8 too low 11 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too low 12 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 WPZOOM Portfolio Lite – Filterable Portfolio Plugin 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 12 too high 15 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #17 ↑4 2 too low 16 Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Vimeo, Video Portfolio, Image Portfolio and Image Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #19 ↓4 3 too low 17 GS Portfolio – WordPress Portfolio Plugin with Filterable Portfolio Grid and Portfolio Slider 300+ · 4.4★ (37) wp.org #22 ↓5 5 too low 18 Portfolio Grid – Filterable Gallery, Grid & Slider Showcase 800+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #23 ↓5 5 too low 19 Responsive Filterable Portfolio Gallery – Media Grid & Video Portfolio 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too low 20 Filterable Portfolio 1K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 PowerFolio – Portfolio & Image Gallery for Elementor 10K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Genesis Portfolio Pro 5K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Themify Portfolio Post 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 19 too high 24 Portfolio Block – The Ultimate Project & Portfolio Builder 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑7 11 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.