Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “text class 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 “text class widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

eRecht24 Legal Texts shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 50K+ 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

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 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 wp.org
1 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 3 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #3 4 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #4 5 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #8 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 AccessiYes Accessibility Widget for ADA, EAA & WCAG Readiness 20K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Image Widget 100K+ · 4.9★ (287) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Shortcode Widget 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Cryptocurrency Widgets – Price Ticker & Coins List 6K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 JVM Rich Text Icons 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #21 22 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Statify Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.