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

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 “smooth”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Smooth Custom Cursor shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 400+ 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

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 1645 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 wp.org
1 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 MouseWheel Smooth Scroll 90K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 jQuery Smooth Scroll 10K+ · 4.5★ (47) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #15 ↓2 10 too low 6 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Smooth scrolling with Lenis 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #17 ↑1 8 too low 10 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 S Surbma | Smooth Scroll 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Smooth Scrolling 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 View Transitions 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 F Fast Smooth Scroll 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 11 too high 19 Smoothscroller 400+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Advanced Marquee Effect for Elementor – Smooth Marquee, News Ticker, Image Box & Icon Box Marquee 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too high 21 Smooth SMTP 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Smooth Custom Cursor 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑3 16 too high 23 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 NS Smooth Scroll Back to Top 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑1 11 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.