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

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 “shadows”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

CTC Masonry Gallery shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ 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

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 807 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #2 3 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #3 4 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #8 ↑5 3 too low 6 Kubio AI Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (79) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #12 ↑8 5 too low 8 Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #20 ↓16 6 too low 15 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #15 ↑3 16 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too low 17 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too high 18 LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Teydea Login Customizer – Custom Login Page, Branding & Styling 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #17 ↓7 2 too high 20 Text Unfold For Elementor 3K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓4 22 Block Enhancements – Extended styling for the Block Editor 900+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Product Layouts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #24 ↓10 1 too low 24 CTC Masonry Gallery 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 10 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.