wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “rainbow”

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 “rainbow”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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 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

Rainbow Slider shows at wp.org #1 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 23 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3

Digital Clock 200+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #3 4

Mobile App Canvas – Convert your Website Into an App for iOS and Android 200+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5

PHP Native Password Hash 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too low 6

Progress Bars 500+ · 3.3★ (3) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7

Glitter Bomb 20+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8

Sparkle for Divi 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑4 2 too high 9

Rainbow Secure – Advanced MFA & SSO Plugin — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 10

Pride Bar 20+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓1 11

Crypto Wallet Payment for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #13 2 too low 12

ButtonCraft Animated Buttons – With Click Analytics — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13

Host5 Fluid Splash Cursor — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 2 too low 14

Sparkle Mouse — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #16 2 too low 15

Link Different – Animated Link Hover Effects for WordPress 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 2 too low 16

Front Door Hero — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 2 too low 17

Seasonal Popup — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #14 3 too high 18

CursorCraft – Cursor Builder for Elementor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19

Polanger Category Story Carousel for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 E EX Kinetic Typography for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too low 21

DecoBlocks – Speech Bubble, Sticker, Table of Contents & Highlight Blocks — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 S Sweet Sharmin Preloader — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23

G-SSO Wallet Authenticator — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24

Rainbow Slider 20+ · 3.0★ (1) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #1 23 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.