Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “skeleton loader”

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 “skeleton loader”, 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

AJAX Loading shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Album Gallery for Photo & Video 4K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Grid Gallery – for Photo Gallery, Image Gallery & Portfolio 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Ajax loader + Cache 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Products Skeleton Loader for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Progressify – All-in-One Progressive Web App (PWA) 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 WDesignKit – AI Templates, Widget Builder & MCP Workflow 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #24 ↓5 18 too low 7 Init View Count – AI-Powered, Trending, REST API 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Init Embed Posts – Stylish, Fast, Portable 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Uplink7 Skeleton Loader 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Under The Weather 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓2 8 too low 11 TrackSure Cloud – Server-Side Tracking, Meta CAPI & GA4 for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓3 12 too low 12 Sentio Widgets for Elementor 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 PagePulse 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Taco Table of Contents — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 ExtenderX – Accessibility Toolbar, Dark Mode & Site Tools 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 SH Product Grid & List Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 ModeFilter Pro — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 SmoothPreview — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Freeslot Calendar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 LumenCache 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 J Janssen Fast Filters for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Ezy Filter Flow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓4 23 Captain Advance Filter — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too high 24 AJAX Loading 10+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #17 7 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.