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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “projects gallery”

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 “projects gallery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

CTC Masonry Gallery shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Media Library Assistant places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 202 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 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #3 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 5 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Responsive Gallery Grid 4K+ · 4.7★ (66) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 Feeds for YouTube (YouTube video, channel, and gallery plugin) 100K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #22 13 too low 10 Radius Portfolio – Filterable Grid, Gallery & Slider Portfolio 7K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Grid Gallery – for Photo Gallery, Image Gallery & Portfolio 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 picu – Online Photo Proofing Gallery 2K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation 30K+ · 4.7★ (252) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 Pixel Gallery Addons for Elementor 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 7 too high 15 Project Showcase – Responsive Portfolio, Case Studies & Filterable Grid Layouts 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Portfolio Grid – Filterable Gallery, Grid & Slider Showcase 800+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 PowerFolio – Portfolio & Image Gallery for Elementor 10K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 ShutterPress Gallery – Masonry, justified and grid galleries, lightbox and infinite scroll 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 CTC Masonry Gallery 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 WPZOOM Portfolio Lite – Filterable Portfolio Plugin 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 Portfolio Block – The Ultimate Project & Portfolio Builder 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Masonry Gallery & Posts For Divi (WP Tools) 700+ · 2.8★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Portfolio Responsive Gallery 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.