Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “snowflake”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

Falling Things shows at wp.org #5 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #1 2 WP Snow Effect 1K+ · 4.9★ (390) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 DB Falling Snowflakes 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 Christmas Snow 3D – Snowfalling, Snowflake Effect and Christmas mood 100+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Rs Christmas Trees – Holiday Decorations, Christmas Garlands & Falling Snow Effect 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #6 7 Rs Christmas Santa – Snowfall, Christmas Lights, Holiday Music, Flying Sleigh & Countdown 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 8 Minifly – Site Enhancement, White Label and Custom Dashboard Solution 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Falling Things 200+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 DB-Views: Dashboards, Data Tables and Webforms 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 WpXmas Snow 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 DCLVBS Snowflakes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Christmas Snowflakes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Falling Shapes 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Christmas Snow – Festive Snowfall Effect 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑5 16 W Winter Snow Effect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 Code Live Snow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Sparkle Mouse — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 Redact Tools for Discord – Timestamp Generator & Account Age Checker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Seasonal Popup — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 Glimmerwake – Seasonal Cursor Trails — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 BeforeSunrise Realistic Snowfall — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 Remedolt Giriş Sayfası Özelleştirici — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Christmas Snow Effects 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓6

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.