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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “random video”

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 “random video”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Video Manager for Peertube shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 60+ 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

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169) wp.org #1 2 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #2 3 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #3 4 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Photo Gallery – GT3 Image Gallery & Gutenberg Block Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (147) wp.org #5 6 RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #16 ↓1 9 too low 8 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #15 ↓5 6 too low 10 Video Grid 1K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 FV Flowplayer Video Player 10K+ · 4.4★ (90) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #18 ↑2 1 too low 18 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 VidShop – Shoppable Videos for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 too high 20 Solid Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Video Testimonials & Customer Reviews 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Easy Video Reviews – Testimonial Grid & Social Proof 100+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 ShapedGallery – Photo Gallery, Image Gallery, Video Gallery & Lightbox 1K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Video Manager for Peertube 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 SocialFeeds 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.