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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “responsive controls”

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 “responsive controls”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

TZM Responsive Block Controls shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 100+ 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

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #1 2 Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #15 ↑2 9 too low 7 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #21 ↑3 14 too low 8 Responsive Slideshow – Photo Carousel 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Block Responsive – Make Editor Blocks Responsive Easily 800+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #23 ↓1 13 too low 11 Responsive Slider Gallery – Responsive Image Photo Slider 2K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Responsive Starter Templates – Elementor Templates & Starter Sites 10K+ · 4.5★ (39) wp.org #12 13 Photospace Responsive Gallery 800+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 Responsive Thumbnail Slider 1K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16 Disable Responsive Images Complete 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Responsive Blocks – Page Builder for Blocks & Patterns 3K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Simple YouTube Responsive 3K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 Responsive Filterable Portfolio Gallery – Media Grid & Video Portfolio 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 Visibility Controls for Editor Blocks 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 Responsive Block Control – Hide blocks based on display width 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 TZM Responsive Block Controls 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 18 too high 23 Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 Responsive Tabs For Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.