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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pre loading”

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 “pre loading”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Thim Kit for Elementor – Pre-built Templates & Widgets for Elementor shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 1148 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #1 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 3 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too low 6 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 ↓7 4 too low 8 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9 Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader 200K+ · 4.7★ (1148) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #17 ↑3 7 too low 11 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #10 ↑3 2 too high 13 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #15 ↓5 2 too low 14 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #8 ↓1 6 too high 15 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #20 ↑3 3 too low 18 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #9 ↑3 9 too high 19 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Thim Kit for Elementor – Pre-built Templates & Widgets for Elementor 20K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 Photo Gallery by Re Gallery: Responsive Image Gallery with AI SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Product Labels, Quick View, Buy Now, Pre-Orders, Frequently Bought Together & More for WooCommerce – Merchant 9K+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Spotrebiteľské práva pre WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.