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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “video slideshow”

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 “video slideshow”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Image Slider Slideshow shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smart Slider 3 places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1125 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 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (739) wp.org #1 2 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #2 3 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (615) wp.org #3 4 Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth 3M+ · 3.7★ (2407) wp.org #4 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7314) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Carousel, Slider, Photo Gallery with Lightbox, Video Slider, by WP Carousel 70K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too low 8 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (247) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 too low 9 Product Video Gallery for Woocommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (97) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Slideshow SE 2K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (360) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #23 ↓2 11 too low 13 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 80K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #15 ↑9 2 too low 14 Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) wp.org #22 ↓11 8 too low 15 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 5K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 MetaSlider Gallery – Image Gallery, Lightbox Galleries, Video Galleries 10K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #10 ↑10 6 too high 17 Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Vimeo, Video Portfolio, Image Portfolio and Image Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 Media Slider for Photos Images Videos 2K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Slider, Image Slider & Carousel by Slider Factory – Responsive Slideshow, Video Slider 2K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Cincopa video and media plug-in 1K+ · 2.8★ (26) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Photo Gallery Slideshow & Masonry Tiled Gallery 1K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 WPZOOM Addons for Elementor – Starter Templates & Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 Image Slider Slideshow 2K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 15 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.