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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “scroll indicator”

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 indicator”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Scroll to Top – Smooth Scroll Up, Back to Top & Reading Progress Bar shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 498 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Simple Scroll To Top WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too low 6 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Reading progressbar 6K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #20 ↑1 11 too low 10 Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too low 14 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Worth The Read 3K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 Pagination by BestWebSoft – Customizable WordPress Content Splitter and Navigation Plugin 5K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #21 ↑2 5 too low 17 Online Indicator For Twitch 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 13 too high 18 Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 MakeITeasy Popup 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 bSlider – Build Sliders That Bring Your Content to Life 5K+ · 4.0★ (11) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 LandTech Extras for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 Scroll to Top – Smooth Scroll Up, Back to Top & Reading Progress Bar 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 16 too high 24 Scroll Indicator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.