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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “widget classes”

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 “widget classes”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Statify Widget shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 724 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Genesis Widget Column Classes 5K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #1 ↑18 4 too high 6 Widget CSS Classes 80K+ · 4.9★ (74) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too low 10 Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #16 ↓6 5 too low 12 Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too high 15 Add Widget After Content 6K+ · 4.7★ (38) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #22 ↓5 6 too low 17 Social Slider Feed – Social Media Feed & Gallery Widgets 10K+ · 3.9★ (127) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too low 18 Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Statify Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #20 21 ThemeZee Widget Bundle 5K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓5 1 too low 23 Another Mailchimp Widget 4K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 Simple Google Calendar Outlook Events Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓3 7 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.