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

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 “vision”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Auto Alt Text shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 616 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 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 AI Image Alt Text Generator 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 SiteOrigin CSS 100K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 SMS Alert – SMS Notifications & OTP Login, COD Verification, Abandoned Cart Recovery 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Alt Text AI – Automatically generate image alt text for SEO and accessibility 20K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #19 ↓5 5 too low 15 Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks – CoBlocks 300K+ · 4.2★ (109) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Bulk Auto Image Alt Text (Alt tag, Alt attribute) optimizer (image SEO) 10K+ · 4.2★ (111) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too high 19 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #20 21 Kubio AI Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (79) wp.org #21 22 ELEX WooCommerce Catalog Mode 10K+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 ELEX WooCommerce Request a Quote 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #23 24 Auto Alt Text 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 ↑2 8 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.