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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “add javascript”

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 “add javascript”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 5 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

Add Code To Head shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 1488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #1 2 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Add Customer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #4 5 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #18 13 too low 6 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #16 ↑1 10 too low 7 Add Custom Codes – Insert Header, Footer, Custom PHP Snippets, CSS, Javascript 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 ↑1 5 too high 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #10 ↓8 1 too high 12 Speed Up – JavaScript To Footer 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #3 ↑1 9 too high 13 Flying Scripts: Delay JavaScript to Improve Site Speed & Performance 30K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #19 ↓10 5 too low 15 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #21 ↓5 6 too low 16 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Add Chat App Button 2K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 WP Super Minify • Minify, Compress and Cache HTML, CSS & JavaScript 8K+ · 4.1★ (73) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 Add as Preferred Source on Google 800+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Add Code To Head 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓2 14 too high 22 PRyC WP: Add custom content to post and page (top/bottom) 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 YAHMAN Add-ons 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 J JavaScript Notifier 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 10 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.