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

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 “strips”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Strip Image Metadata shows at wp.org #3 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 21 places. Its 300+ 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

Responsive Lightbox & Gallery places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 2003 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WPSSO Strip Schema Microdata 200+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #5 ↑3 2 too low 4 Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139) wp.org #4 5 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts 200K+ · 5.0★ (1221) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Remove Category URL – Remove ‘category’ base from category permalinks 40K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 PDF Forms Filler for CF7 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #9 ↑1 11 too high 21 WooSwipe WooCommerce Gallery 3K+ · 4.5★ (39) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 GutSlider – All in One Slider and Carousel Blocks for Gutenberg 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Strip Image Metadata 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 21 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.