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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “prev next”

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 “prev next”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

WP-CommentNavi shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 700+ 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

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 410 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #1 2 Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too low 5 Post Category Prev-Next Link Fix 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Vimeo, Video Portfolio, Image Portfolio and Image Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Audio Player Block – Advanced Block for Embedding Audio Files 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 Team Members – A WordPress Team Plugin with Gallery, Grid, Carousel, Slider, Table, List, and More 2K+ · 4.7★ (91) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Latest Post Shortcode 4K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Logo Showcase – Responsive Logo Carousel, Logo Slider & Logo Grid 5K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Easy Slider 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 GIGA Slider 100+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Image Slider 4K+ · 3.4★ (31) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 WP-CommentNavi 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22 Infinite Scroll Product For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Snap Carousel — Block Style 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Pagebreak Description 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 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.