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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “scroll progress 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 progress indicator”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 200+ 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

Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 522 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 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Reading progressbar 6K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Simple Scroll To Top WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #20 ↓1 12 too low 9 Pagination by BestWebSoft – Customizable WordPress Content Splitter and Navigation Plugin 5K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #12 ↑5 3 too low 10 ShopLentor – All-in-One WooCommerce Growth & Store Enhancement Plugin 80K+ · 4.5★ (278) wp.org #19 ↓6 9 too low 11 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Worth The Read 3K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Disk Usage Sunburst 9K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 MakeITeasy Popup 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Slider, Image Slider & Carousel by Slider Factory – Responsive Slideshow, Video Slider 2K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Turbo Addons Elementor 3K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 bSlider – Build Sliders That Bring Your Content to Life 5K+ · 4.0★ (11) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Scroll to Top – Smooth Scroll Up, Back to Top & Reading Progress Bar 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 LandTech Extras for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 AR Back To Top 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.