wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “delay feed”

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 “delay feed”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Login Delay Shield shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 1205 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #1 2

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

WebToffee WooCommerce Product Feeds – Google Shopping, Pinterest, TikTok Ads, & More 2K+ · 4.8★ (27) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8

Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #5 3 too high 9

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10

WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #13 ↑3 3 too low 11

Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #11 12

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13

10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14

FunnelKit Automations – Email Marketing Automation and CRM for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 5.0★ (346) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 D Debloat – Remove Unused CSS, Optimize JS 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #12 3 too high 16

Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #17 1 too low 17

Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #23 6 too low 18

Exclusive Addons for Elementor 50K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #22 3 too low 20

SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21

Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41) wp.org #24 3 too low 22

bSlider – Build Sliders That Bring Your Content to Life 5K+ · 4.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23

RSS Chimp – Featured Images for RSS Feeds 400+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 13 too high 24

Awin Data Feed 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.