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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “screen effects”

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 “screen effects”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Confetti – Celebration Effects for WordPress shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 49 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #1 2 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too low 8 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #9 ↑4 2 too high 12 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #22 ↓4 6 too low 17 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Confetti – Celebration Effects for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (49) wp.org #11 ↓4 7 too high 19 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 FaeCursor – Interaction Effects Toolkit 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 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.