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

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 “spinner”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

AboveWP Page Loader shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

NEX-Forms – Ultimate Forms Plugin for WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.1★ from 135 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #1 2 a3 Lazy Load 80K+ · 4.3★ (148) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 XT Ajax Add To Cart for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (30) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Popup Maker – Responsive popup, Exit Intent Pop up, Email Optins, Autoresponder & More 7K+ · 4.5★ (144) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #17 ↓2 11 too low 7 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Image Gallery 3K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #11 ↑5 3 too low 9 Grid Gallery – for Photo Gallery, Image Gallery & Portfolio 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 NEX-Forms – Ultimate Forms Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.1★ (135) wp.org #22 ↑1 12 too low 11 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 Custom Add to Cart Button Label and Link for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Custom Spinner For WooCommerce: custom spinner for the WooCommerce checkout and cart pages 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 Contact Form Widget – Responsive Contact Form, Query Form & Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 Content Pilot – Autoblogging & Affiliate Marketing Suite 700+ · 3.6★ (36) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Smart LazyLoad – Lazy Load Images, Videos and Iframes 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 19 DWL Preloader 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 WP Preloader 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too high 21 Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓3 9 too high 22 Easy Slider 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too high 23 AboveWP Page Loader 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 MATE Recently Viewed Products – Cache Compatible for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓6 1 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.