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

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 blocks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

VK Blocks shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #1 ↑3 2 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor 50K+ · 4.9★ (729) wp.org #3 4 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #18 ↑3 8 too low 11 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #21 ↓3 9 too low 13 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #23 ↓4 10 too low 14 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #22 ↑2 7 too low 16 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #5 ↑1 11 too high 17 BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Premium Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Patterns & Templates 2K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #20 ↑2 2 too low 19 The Icon Block 40K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Qi Blocks 60K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Magical Blocks – Elementor Style Blocks for Gutenberg 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.