wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “style boxes”

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 “style boxes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Special Text Boxes shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 21 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 5925 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Cool Flipbox – Shortcode & Gutenberg Block 5K+ · 4.8★ (103) wp.org #1 2

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #4 5

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 6

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #6 7

Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #8 9

Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #7 2 too high 10

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #13 3 too low 11

Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #14 3 too low 12

Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #15 2 too low 14

Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332) wp.org #18 4 too low 15

Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #16 1 too low 16

Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

Boxzilla – WordPress Popup Builder 20K+ · 4.8★ (133) wp.org #20 3 too low 18

PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

AffiliateX – Amazon Affiliate Plugin, Product Boxes, Comparison Tables & Affiliate Link Tracking 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 D Drop Shadow Boxes 3K+ · 5.0★ (77) wp.org #19 1 too high 21

Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #24 2 too low 23

Special Text Boxes 1K+ · 3.4★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #10 13 too high 24

Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #23 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.