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

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 “shimmer”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Products Skeleton Loader for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #3 but places #7 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 30+ 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

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics places #4 on merit, 3.7★ from 2408 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Grid Gallery – for Photo Gallery, Image Gallery & Portfolio 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 3 MaxLimits – Increase Maximum Upload, Post & PHP Limits 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #18 ↓1 14 too low 5 Searchips Search By Image for WooCommerce 10+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Under The Weather 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Products Skeleton Loader for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Sparkle for Divi 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑4 3 too high 9 VoxAI – AI Text to Speech, Audio & Summary for Posts — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 PagePulse 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Uplink7 Skeleton Loader 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 GfDesigns 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 ButtonCraft Animated Buttons – With Click Analytics — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too high 14 Waito Animated Preloader and Loading Screen 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 SmoothPreview — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 AkaVoice – AI Article to Podcast — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 Nemtly Blocks — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 P Plvgin Brand Showcase for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too low 19 RevBoost Cash on Delivery Popup for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too high 20 E EX Kinetic Typography for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 One Folder Gallery for OneDrive 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Sangar Studio ReadFlow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Opus Price Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 GlanceLeader – Animated CTA Highlighter for WooCommerce & WordPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.