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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “search widget”

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 “search widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

WP Search with Algolia shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 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 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #2 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #6 ↑3 7 FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1815) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #8 ↓5 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑3 10 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Search & Filter 40K+ · 4.5★ (175) wp.org #13 ↓3 2 too low 12 Advanced Woo Search – Product Search for WooCommerce 60K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #11 ↓5 1 too high 13 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #10 ↑4 6 too high 17 SearchWP Live Ajax Search 40K+ · 4.7★ (36) wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too high 18 BP Profile Search 5K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #12 ↑12 8 too high 21 Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #17 ↓4 4 too high 22 Search Analytics for WP – Site Search Tracking 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too high 23 GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 Advance Product Search- Voice & Ajax Search for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.