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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable emoji scripts”

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 “disable emoji scripts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 30 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 373 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #1 2 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #23 ↓4 10 too low 14 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #18 ↑3 4 too low 15 WP Coder – Insert & Manage Code Snippets 10K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Emoji Settings 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 Falcon – Cache, Performance, Security, Cleanup, and Tweaks 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too high 24 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #24

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.