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

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 “asynchronous”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Wingify shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 769 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 YMC Filter 4K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #1 2 Database Cleaner: Cleanup, Optimization & Repair 10K+ · 5.0★ (150) wp.org #2 3 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #3 4 PhastPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 Page Speed Optimizer: HTTP/2 Push, Async JavaScript, and Defer CSS 6K+ · 4.7★ (64) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 WP24 Domain Check 4K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10 Better Font Awesome 60K+ · 4.5★ (88) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (439) wp.org #18 ↑1 7 too low 12 Filter Gallery 3K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 WPify Woo – Withdrawal, CRN/VAT, QR payments, Heureka and more for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #13 14 AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301) wp.org #20 ↑4 6 too low 15 ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #7 ↑3 8 too high 16 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Virtuaria Payments with PagBank for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Contact Form Widget – Responsive Contact Form, Query Form & Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Inventory Sync for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Rocket Font – 한글 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Wingify 4K+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Smart Click Tracker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.