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

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 checks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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

Block Accessibility Checks shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 90+ 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. 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 50K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #1 2 Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #3 4 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #5 6 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #18 12 too low 7 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #20 ↓1 11 too low 10 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Atarim – AI Agency for WordPress: Edit Pages, Fix Code, Update Plugins, SEO & Client Feedback 1K+ · 4.9★ (126) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 WP ADA Compliance Check Basic 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 WProofreader spell & grammar check plugin for WordPress 4K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 GTranslate Visual Addon 400+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Visual Builder for Contact Form 7 400+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Innovs WPBakery Visual Composer WHMCS Elements 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 Wingify 4K+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Block Accessibility Checks 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.