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

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 gallery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Photospace Responsive Gallery shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 1597 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #2 ↓1 3

Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4

Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #3 ↑11 1 too high 5

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #10 ↓4 4 too low 7

Responsive Gallery Grid 4K+ · 4.7★ (66) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current wp.org #8 ↓3 9

Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too high 10

Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too high 11

Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203) wp.org #13 ↓3 2 too low 12

SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #11 1 too high 13

Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #18 5 too low 14

Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #16 2 too low 15

Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #21 ↓13 6 too low 16

Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248) wp.org #19 3 too low 17

Lightbox for Gallery & Image Block 20K+ · 5.0★ (88) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18

Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (160) wp.org #24 6 too low 19

Photo Gallery by Re Gallery: Responsive Image Gallery with AI SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑10 5 too high 20

Photo Gallery – GT3 Image Gallery & Gutenberg Block Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (147) not PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21

Lightbox slider – Responsive Lightbox Gallery 3K+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #17 4 too high 22

Photospace Responsive Gallery 800+ · 4.7★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #12 10 too high 23

Photo Gallery by Ays – Responsive Image Gallery 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24

Responsive Slider Gallery – Responsive Image Photo Slider 2K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #15 9 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.