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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “section separator”

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 “section separator”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Section Separator Block – Modern Waves, Icons, Pills & Emoji Stacks shows at wp.org #2 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 474 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Add menu separators to navigation 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Perfect Brands for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.7★ (414) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Easy Auto SKU Generator for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (272) wp.org #17 ↑1 10 too low 8 Extra Product Options For WooCommerce | Custom Product Addons and Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #24 ↓8 13 too low 12 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Custom Shape Dividers create dividers in a easy way 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 SVG Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #18 ↓5 19 Extensive VC Addons for WPBakery Page Builder 4K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Section Separator Block – Modern Waves, Icons, Pills & Emoji Stacks 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 18 too high 21 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Breadcrumbs Divi Module 10K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Section Blocks – Landing Page Sections for the Block Editor 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 WP Events Manager 30K+ · 2.7★ (13) wp.org #15 9 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.