Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “quick box”

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 “quick box”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 8 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

Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 2K+ 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

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 215 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Quick Featured Images 50K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too low 3 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Quick Adsense 20K+ · 3.9★ (74) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Quick View For WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 Gallery Box 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #8 ↓1 7 too high 16 Quick PayPal Payments: Payment Button & Form 1K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 Quick Interest Slider 1K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 Counter Box – Add Countdowns, Timers & Dynamic Counters to WordPress 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Store Toolkit – WooCommerce Extensions, Quick Enhancements & Handy Tools 8K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Dashboard quick links widget 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 14 too high 22 One Page Quick Checkout for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #22 23 Service Box Slider 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Bizzview – Quick View for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.