Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “width”

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 “width”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Full Width Banner Slider Wp shows at wp.org #2 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 21 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Login Page Customizer places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 476 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #4 ↑3 2 too low 3 C Custom Content Width 1K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #8 ↑12 3 too low 6 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too low 7 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #17 ↑2 8 too low 10 I iframe 60K+ · 4.4★ (56) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #14 ↑4 3 too low 12 Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Resize Image After Upload 80K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #22 ↓7 6 too low 17 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #19 ↑4 2 too low 18 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #24 ↓7 6 too low 19 Bootstrap Blocks 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too high 20 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #20 ↑4 21 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 Responsive Block Control – Hide blocks based on display width 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↓2 16 too high 23 Full Width Banner Slider Wp 2K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #2 21 too high 24 Image Prioritizer 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.