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← Rankings

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

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 “viewport”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Image Prioritizer shows at wp.org #3 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 40K+ 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

Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 84 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #4 ↑3 2 too low 3 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Definitely allow mobile zooming 7K+ · 5.0★ (54) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 MapPress – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap & Leaflet 30K+ · 4.7★ (147) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #15 ↑3 8 too low 8 Change class in viewport: create animations with pure CSS 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 Bootstrap Blocks 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #16 ↑3 7 too low 10 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too low 11 Lazy Load Control For Elementor – Remove the Lazy Load attribute from specific images in Elementor 3K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Filter Gallery 3K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Counting Number Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 Image Prioritizer 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 15 too high 19 Mortar for Bricks Builder 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Image Ticker Carousel | by Creavi 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑5 1 too high 21 Block Patterns for Food Bloggers 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓1 15 too high 23 Enhanced Responsive Images 50K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 Web Accessibility Toolkit – Accessibility Checker & ARIA for WCAG, Section 508 & ADA Compliance 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.