wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “responsive widget”
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 widget”, 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
Responsive Owl Carousel for Elementor shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 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.
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #1 2 
Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003)
wp.org #2 3 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #3 4 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 
Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248)
wp.org #6 ↑4 2 too high 9 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #10 ↑4 1 too low 10 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516)
wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 
Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #8 3 too high 12 
SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134)
wp.org #14 ↑7 2 too low 13 
Make Tables Responsive 6K+ · 5.0★ (34)
wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 
Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191)
wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 
Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169)
wp.org #16 ↓1 17 
Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248)
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #18 19 
WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51)
wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 
Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 
Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62)
wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 
Responsive Slideshow – Photo Carousel 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 
Responsive Slider Gallery – Responsive Image Photo Slider 2K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Responsive Owl Carousel for Elementor 7K+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 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.