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

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 “snow”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Festival Snow Effect shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 489 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 WP Snow Effect 1K+ · 4.9★ (390) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Snow Monkey Blocks 30K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #9 ↑4 6 too low 4 Snow Monkey Forms 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Snow Storm 300+ · 4.6★ (49) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too low 6 Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 DevVN Snow 60+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 S Snow Fall 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #22 ↑2 10 too low 13 Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #16 ↑6 3 too low 14 Rs Christmas Trees – Holiday Decorations, Christmas Garlands & Falling Snow Effect 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Christmas Snow 3D – Snowfalling, Snowflake Effect and Christmas mood 100+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too low 16 Marvy – Background Animations for Elementor 4K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 too low 17 Rs Christmas Santa – Snowfall, Christmas Lights, Holiday Music, Flying Sleigh & Countdown 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑5 2 too high 18 WpXmas Snow 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Setup Default Featured Image 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Festival Snow Effect 60+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #6 14 too high 21 Falling Things 200+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Christmas Snow – Festive Snowfall Effect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 SMBM – Business Manager for Snow Monkey Forms 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Auto Location for WP Job Manager 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 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.