Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “header script”

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 “header script”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ 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

My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1199 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Header and Footer Scripts 200K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #4 5 Insert Headers And Footers 200K+ · 5.0★ (135) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #19 ↑3 13 too low 7 HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #10 ↑4 3 too low 8 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #24 ↓6 16 too low 9 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #9 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 ↑2 10 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too low 14 Insert Headers and Footers Code – HT Script 7K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #20 ↓4 5 too low 16 Header Footer Script Adder 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Tracking Script Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 Sticky Header 2020 600+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Security Header Generator 400+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Fixed And Sticky Header 1K+ · 3.3★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Header Footer Custom Html 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 Header Enhancement 500+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.