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

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 modals”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Slider by Soliloquy – Responsive Image Slider for WordPress places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 1025 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 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #1 2 Responsive Gallery Grid 4K+ · 4.7★ (66) wp.org #2 3 Ocean Modal Window 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #3 4 Easy Modal 7K+ · 4.4★ (124) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Slider by Soliloquy – Responsive Image Slider for WordPress 30K+ · 4.7★ (1025) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too low 11 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #18 ↓5 7 too low 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #14 ↑3 1 too low 14 Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Responsive Starter Templates – Elementor Templates & Starter Sites 10K+ · 4.5★ (39) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #23 ↓4 5 too low 19 Responsive Filterable Portfolio Gallery – Media Grid & Video Portfolio 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Responsive Lightbox 10K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too high 21 Photo Gallery by Re Gallery: Responsive Image Gallery with AI SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #19 ↑4 2 too high 22 Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓5 2 too high 24 a3 Responsive Slider 200+ · 2.6★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.