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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress modals”

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 “wordpress modals”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Modal Window – create popup modal window shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 36 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 7676 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #1 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Easy Modal 7K+ · 4.4★ (124) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) wp.org #13 ↑8 3 too low 11 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #21 ↓2 9 too low 13 Ocean Modal Window 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #20 ↓4 6 too low 15 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Boxzilla – WordPress Popup Builder 20K+ · 4.8★ (133) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Light Modal Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Osom Modal Login 400+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 SearchWP Modal Search Form 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too high 23 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Modal Fly Cart & AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.