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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cache busting”

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 “cache busting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Feather – Elementor Performance Optimizer | Asset Cleanup, Page Speed & Database Cleanup shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Fast Velocity Minify places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 195 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 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #1 2 Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (290) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #3 4 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 100K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 PDF.js Viewer 20K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (640) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 2K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Fast Velocity Minify 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 Cachebuster 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Disable CSS JS Cache 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 Simple:Press Forum 300+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 ATR Cookie Notice 900+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Anti-Cache Kit 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Auto podcast import 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 18 Boring Cache Warmup Lite 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Search Engines Blocked in Header 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 Manage/Remove version number from CSS & JS 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Theme SCSS Compiler 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Devenia Replace Media 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 RefiTune – Site refiner toolkit 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Feather – Elementor Performance Optimizer | Asset Cleanup, Page Speed & Database Cleanup 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.