Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tags widget”

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 “tags widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 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

GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #2 3 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #3 4 PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #4 5 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #8 ↑7 1 too high 10 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #13 ↑6 3 too low 11 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #17 ↓4 4 too low 14 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #14 ↓2 15 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too high 17 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Image Widget 100K+ · 4.9★ (287) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Statify Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Dynamic Tags for Elementor 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.