wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “delay 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 “delay javascript”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Login Delay Shield shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 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

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 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 signals wp.org

Flying Scripts: Delay JavaScript to Improve Site Speed & Performance 30K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #1 2

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #2 3

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 4

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #4 5

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 6

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #6 7

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #14 7 too low 8

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #21 13 too low 9

Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #19 9 too low 11

360 Javascript Viewer 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #7 4 too high 12

BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #10 2 too high 13

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 D Debloat – Remove Unused CSS, Optimize JS 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #15 1 too low 15

Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #9 6 too high 16

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #20 4 too low 17

LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139) wp.org #23 6 too low 18

Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #16 2 too high 19

LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #11 8 too high 20

SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base wp.org #13 7 too high 21

Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too low 22

Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 24

WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #17 7 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.