wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “scroll bars”
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 “scroll bars”, 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
Catch Scroll Progress Bar shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 287 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.
Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225)
wp.org #1 2 
My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199)
wp.org #2 3 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #3 ↑3 4 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 
Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763)
wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too low 6 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287)
wp.org #16 6 too low 11 
jQuery Smooth Scroll 10K+ · 4.5★ (47)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 
Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #18 6 too low 13 
Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #15 2 too low 14 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #24 10 too low 15 
Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
Hash Link Scroll Offset 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #12 4 too high 17 
Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40)
wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 Catch Scroll Progress Bar 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↓1 14 too high 19 
EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26)
wp.org #19 ↑1 20 
Speed Contact Bar 4K+ · 4.6★ (56)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #17 4 too high 22 
Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 
Progress Bars 500+ · 3.3★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #13 11 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.