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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “simple animations”

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 “simple animations”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 4 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

Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ 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

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4132 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 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #1 2 S Simple Lightbox 100K+ · 4.3★ (239) wp.org #2 3 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #3 4 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #4 5 Simple Image Sizes 60K+ · 4.6★ (91) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #7 8 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #13 ↑7 14 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 aBlocks – Gutenberg Blocks, User Dashboard Builder, Popup Builder, Form Builder & Animation Builder 2K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too low 18 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 T4B News Ticker – Responsive News Scroller, Slider, and Animations 7K+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 Animator – Scroll Triggered Animations 1K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Embed Lottie Player – bring your pages to life with animation 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 S Simple Block Animations 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 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.