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

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 popups”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 7322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #2 3 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #4 5 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #6 ↑7 1 too low 6 WP Popups – WordPress Popup builder 30K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #19 ↑2 9 too low 11 Popup Maker – Responsive popup, Exit Intent Pop up, Email Optins, Autoresponder & More 7K+ · 4.5★ (144) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Cart Popup for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.4★ (70) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15 Responsive Starter Templates – Elementor Templates & Starter Sites 10K+ · 4.5★ (39) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓2 7 too high 17 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 T Themify Popup 8K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #20 21 Responsive Filterable Portfolio Gallery – Media Grid & Video Portfolio 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Responsive Blocks – Page Builder for Blocks & Patterns 3K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #22 23 Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Easy Popups – Beautiful, Responsive Popups for Lead Capture & Announcements 30+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓5 3 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.