wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “slide share”

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 “slide share”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Content Slider Block – Bring your content to life with slides shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Slider by Soliloquy – Responsive Image Slider for WordPress places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 1025 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #2 3

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #3 4

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 1 too high 6

AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #11 5 too low 7

DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9

Slider by Soliloquy – Responsive Image Slider for WordPress 30K+ · 4.7★ (1025) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10

EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↑4 2 too low 11

EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12

Divi Carousel Lite – Make Carousels for Divi 5 30K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too low 13

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 ↑1 9 too low 14

Gutenslider — Slider Block for the Block Editor 10K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #13 1 too high 15

Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16

WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17

Good old Share 60+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 11 too high 18

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19

Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20

Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓7 21

Content Slider Block – Bring your content to life with slides 3K+ · 3.2★ (5) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 14 too high 22

PDF Embed Block – share documents right inside your posts 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑1 14 too high 23

Carousel Block – Showcase Images in Elegant Sliding Displays 7K+ · 5.0★ (6) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24

DP Easy Social Share 30+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓3 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.