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

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 “tooltip”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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.

I

Ranked above its merit

Inline Tooltips shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 70+ 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

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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 CM Tooltip Glossary 7K+ · 4.3★ (157) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #2 3 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #3 4 Tooltipy (tooltips for WP) 1K+ · 4.6★ (68) wp.org #4 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 T Tooltips for WordPress 5K+ · 3.8★ (75) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Hide Tooltips on Hover – Clean Up Title Attributes Without Losing Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too low 11 Glossary 2K+ · 4.7★ (84) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #18 ↑5 6 too low 13 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 50K+ · 3.7★ (59) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 WP Wiki Tooltip 200+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #21 ↓3 7 too low 15 IZ Block Editor Tooltips 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 16 Glossary Tooltip – Highlight Terms & Show Tooltips 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 10 too high 17 MJDD Sidrena Cijena 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Tooltip for Gravity Forms 800+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20 Magic Tooltips For Contact Form 7 600+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓2 10 too high 21 ToolTips For Contact Form 7 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Inline Context – Footnotes, Tooltips & Glossary Notes 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 I Inline Tooltips 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.