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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “top scroll”

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 “top scroll”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

Ranked above its merit

MakeITeasy Back To Top shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 153 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #1 2 To Top 60K+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #2 3 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #3 4 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #4 5 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #9 ↓3 4 too low 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #16 ↑1 10 too low 7 Simple Scroll To Top WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Back To The Top Button 4K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 jQuery Smooth Scroll 10K+ · 4.5★ (47) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #23 ↓2 13 too low 11 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Scroll Top | HR Scroll Top 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑1 8 too high 15 MM Back To Top — Scroll Up Button 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 too high 16 X-Scroll To Top – Responsive 200+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 MakeITeasy Back To Top 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 too high 18 F Fast Smooth Scroll 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 Catch Scroll Progress Bar 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 NS Smooth Scroll Back to Top 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 Top-Down Scroll – Customizable Scroll to Top Button 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 Scroll to Top – Smooth Scroll Up, Back to Top & Reading Progress Bar 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Scroll To Top 300+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24 Click to top 2K+ · 2.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.