wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “preview layout”
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 “preview layout”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Flexible Layout Preview Image for ACF shows at wp.org #2 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 800+ 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
Rich Showcase for Google Reviews places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #1 2 
Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #11 6 too low 6 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
WP Blog Post Layouts 9K+ · 4.7★ (83)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #19 11 too low 9 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995)
wp.org #18 9 too low 10 
SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51)
wp.org #10 11 
Gravity Booster – Styles & Layouts for Gravity Forms 30K+ · 4.6★ (199)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #21 9 too low 13 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #20 7 too low 14 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
MKL Product Configurator for WooCommerce – 2D & 3D Live Preview 2K+ · 4.8★ (42)
wp.org #17 2 too low 16 
Product Layouts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #13 3 too high 17 
Layouts for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #12 5 too high 18 
Layouts for Divi 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Flexible Layout Preview Image for ACF 800+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #2 17 too high 20 
Public Preview URL Manager 300+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #6 14 too high 21 L Live CSS Preview 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #14 7 too high 22 
Activity Link Preview For BuddyPress 100+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Users Bulk Delete With Preview 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
Remove layout destroying HTML-Tags 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.