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

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 “visual”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 2 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

GTranslate Visual Addon shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery places #11 on merit, 4.3★ from 4342 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #1 2 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #2 3 Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) wp.org #3 4 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #4 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too low 6 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too low 8 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #16 ↑2 8 too low 9 VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 too low 11 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #19 ↓5 5 too low 15 Marker.io – Visual Website Feedback 4K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #23 ↓6 8 too low 16 Astra Theme Visual Hooks 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Gutenify – Visual Site Builder Blocks & Starter Templates 5K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Jamie's Visual HTML Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 GTranslate Visual Addon 400+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 Visual Bible Verse of the Day Widget 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓2 10 too high 22 Innovs WPBakery Visual Composer WHMCS Elements 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓5 2 too low 23 Visual Builder for Contact Form 7 400+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 V Visual Slider 600+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 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.