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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “file busting”

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 “file busting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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

Disable CSS JS Cache shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 616 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #2 3 Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #5 6 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #6 7 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 PDF.js Viewer 20K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Fast Velocity Minify 30K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 File Media Renamer for SEO 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 Simple:Press Forum 300+ · 4.2★ (24) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 ATR Cookie Notice 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Ads.txt Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Cachebuster 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Disable CSS JS Cache 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 PixelVault – Media Library Folders, Document Library & File Manager 200+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Manage/Remove version number from CSS & JS 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 PerfGrid Optimizer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Search Engines Blocked in Header 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.