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

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 sidebar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 4 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

Enable Responsive Image shows at wp.org #9 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 616 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. 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 3 Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #3 4 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #17 ↑2 12 too low 6 Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑7 7 too low 8 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #18 ↓7 10 too low 9 Responsive Slider Gallery – Responsive Image Photo Slider 2K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 Responsive Slideshow – Photo Carousel 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Responsive Pricing Table 10K+ · 4.6★ (91) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too low 12 Tabby Responsive Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #22 ↓6 10 too low 13 SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #4 ↓1 9 too high 14 Responsive Starter Templates – Elementor Templates & Starter Sites 10K+ · 4.5★ (39) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Responsive Thumbnail Slider 1K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Block Responsive – Make Editor Blocks Responsive Easily 800+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 Enable Responsive Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 too high 20 Responsive Blocks – Page Builder for Blocks & Patterns 3K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #19 ↓4 1 too high 21 Responsive Filterable Portfolio Gallery – Media Grid & Video Portfolio 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 Login Widget With Shortcode 5K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Pricing Table – Responsive & Easy 3K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 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.