Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 link”, we agree with wp.org 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.

F

Ranked above its merit

Fast Smooth Scroll shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 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 #9 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #1 2 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #2 3 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #7 ↑2 4 too low 4 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #4 5 Hash Link Scroll Offset 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 jQuery Smooth Scroll 10K+ · 4.5★ (47) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #5 ↑1 8 too high 14 Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 S Surbma | Smooth Scroll 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Simple Scroll To Top WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 F Fast Smooth Scroll 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 WP Masonry & Infinite Scroll 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 Catch Scroll Progress Bar 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Arts Horizontal Scroll for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 Top-Down Scroll – Customizable Scroll to Top Button 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.