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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “enqueue”

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 “enqueue”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

GetTerms Cookie Consent & Policies shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ 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

Child Theme Configurator places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 280 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #1 2 W WP-SCSS 40K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Lightbox for Gallery & Image Block 20K+ · 5.0★ (88) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Add Admin CSS 10K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Syntax-highlighting Code Block (with Server-side Rendering) 1K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #8 9 Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #19 ↑1 9 too low 11 Tangible: Loops & Logic 2K+ · 4.9★ (39) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Disable Cart Fragments by Optimocha 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Merge + Minify + Refresh 3K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Options for Twenty Twenty 3K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Content Blocks Builder – Create blocks, repeater blocks with carousel, grid, popup layouts 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Flash Toolkit 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 J jQuery Image Lazy Load WP 700+ · 3.1★ (14) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 AI Translator for Polylang 70+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 L Lessify WordPress 300+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 S SFN Easy FAQ Manager 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 GetTerms Cookie Consent & Policies 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 17 too high 23 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 ska-blocks – TailwindCSS for Block Editor 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.