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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “embed 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 “embed javascript”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

Wonder Video Embed shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Embed Privacy 10K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too low 3 Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too low 5 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #10 ↓6 5 too low 6 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too low 7 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #16 ↑6 8 too low 9 Wonder PDF Embed 8K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 too high 10 Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too low 11 Maps Plugin using Google Maps for WordPress – WP Google Map 10K+ · 4.8★ (172) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #22 ↓2 10 too low 13 Simple YouTube Embed 4K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Videopack 10K+ · 4.8★ (63) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Embed Google Photos album 3K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #8 ↓1 10 too high 19 Disable Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (20) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #23 ↓8 3 too low 21 Embed Lottie Player – bring your pages to life with animation 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 12 too high 22 Forward: Embed Image Links 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 CodePen Embed Block 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.