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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “skill bar”

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 “skill bar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ 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

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 SKT Skill Bar 1K+ · 4.1★ (14) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Progress Bar & Skill Bar 1K+ · 4.5★ (52) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #18 ↓3 11 too low 8 WEN Skill Charts 600+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar 30K+ · 4.8★ (228) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too low 10 Skill Bars 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Brizy – Page Builder 60K+ · 4.7★ (972) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 WP Popups – WordPress Popup builder 30K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #20 ↑4 4 too low 17 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #10 ↑4 7 too high 18 Team Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (53) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 Product Labels For Woocommerce (Sale Badges) 10K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 SKT Addons for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Hello Bar Popup Builder 3K+ · 1.6★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓1 13 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.