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

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 flake”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Snow Flakes shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Snow Effect 1K+ · 4.9★ (390) wp.org #1 2 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Snow Storm 300+ · 4.6★ (49) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Rs Christmas Trees – Holiday Decorations, Christmas Garlands & Falling Snow Effect 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Snow 100+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #15 ↓1 10 too low 6 DB Falling Snowflakes 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Festival Snow Effect 60+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Code Live Snow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Christmas Snow – Festive Snowfall Effect 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 W Winter Snow Effect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Unlimited Elements Blocks Library 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 S Snowy 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 I Improved Let It Snow! 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 BeforeSunrise Realistic Snowfall — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 C Christmas Snow Fall 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Christmas Snowflakes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Snowflakes 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Big Snow Flakes 10+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 H Hello Christmas 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 F Flake 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Snow Flakes 10+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 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.