Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “vertical”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 plugins are 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

Responsive Tabs — Horizontal, Vertical & Accordion Tabs for WordPress shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Max Mega Menu places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 882 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Vertical News Scroller 5K+ · 4.3★ (17) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #20 ↓2 11 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too low 11 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #17 ↓4 6 too low 12 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓1 8 too high 15 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Responsive Tabs — Horizontal, Vertical & Accordion Tabs for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 10 too high 18 Responsive Vertical Icon Menu 700+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 ↓2 8 too high 19 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #11 ↑8 8 too high 20 T TP Flatsome Vertical Menu 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 fullPage Vertical & Horizontal Slider – Snap Scroll Sections & More 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Timeline Block For Gutenberg 9K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Post Auto Vertical Scrolling 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 ReelsWp – Shoppable Videos & Vertical Reels Carousels 300+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.