wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “visual editor”
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 editor”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
GTranslate Visual Addon shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 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
Page Builder by SiteOrigin places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1005 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354)
wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 
Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 too high 4 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 
Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) heavy footprint
wp.org #9 ↓2 10 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #10 11 
Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191)
wp.org #11 ↓2 12 
Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #24 10 too low 15 
Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95)
wp.org #17 ↓4 1 too low 17 
AddQuicktag 100K+ · 4.7★ (44)
wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 
Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑3 5 too high 20 
Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too high 21 
VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
Jamie's Visual HTML Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 
Advanced Classic Editor 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓7 24 GTranslate Visual Addon 400+ · 4.3★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓4 9 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.