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

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 composer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Animated Headline – Visual Composer (WPBakery Page Builder) shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) wp.org #1 2 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #3 4 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6 Live Composer – Free WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.4★ (212) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Perfect Brands for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.7★ (414) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13 Taxonomy Term Listing for Visual Composer 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 9 too high 14 Disable and Remove Google Fonts | GDPR & DSGVO friendly 100K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 Innovs WPBakery Visual Composer WHMCS Elements 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #6 ↓2 11 too high 18 Carousel Slider 30K+ · 4.3★ (160) wp.org #23 ↓3 5 too low 19 MaxSlider 6K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Paste As Plain Text By Default 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22 Animated Headline – Visual Composer (WPBakery Page Builder) 70+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23 Advanced Ads for WPBakery Page Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Futurio Extra 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓6 3 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.