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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “reading progress”

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 “reading progress”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Catch Scroll Progress Bar shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 612 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 WP Reading Progress 3K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #1 2 Reading progressbar 6K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #2 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 Reading Position Indicator 800+ · 5.0★ (66) wp.org #4 5 Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #16 ↑1 9 too low 8 Progress Bar 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #23 ↓2 11 too low 13 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Worth The Read 3K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #22 ↓3 4 too low 19 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too low 20 Catch Scroll Progress Bar 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↓1 14 too high 21 Reading Time 200+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 Plover Kit – Blocks, Patterns, Responsive Layout and Gutenberg Editor Enhancements 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Init Reading Position – Remember, Return, Continue 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 Scroll to Top – Smooth Scroll Up, Back to Top & Reading Progress Bar 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.