wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “http remove”

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 “http remove”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Remove Meta Generators shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 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

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 517 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 signals wp.org

WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #8 4 too low 5

HTTP Requests Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #3 2 too high 6

SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #13 7 too low 7

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 8 too low 8

Remove CPT base 10K+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #20 10 too low 11

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #22 11 too low 12

Remove admin menus by role 8K+ · 4.4★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #5 7 too high 13

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #21 8 too low 14

Smart Attachment Page Remove 900+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #7 7 too high 15

Page Speed Optimizer: HTTP/2 Push, Async JavaScript, and Defer CSS 6K+ · 4.7★ (64) wp.org #14 1 too high 16

Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #18 2 too low 17

Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #23 5 too low 19

Media Hygiene: Remove or Delete Unused Images and More! 4K+ · 4.2★ (41) wp.org #24 5 too low 20

WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #12 8 too high 21

Remove XML-RPC Methods 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #10 11 too high 22

Remove Meta Generators 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #6 16 too high 23

ShieldClimb – Remove Hentry and Hatom 60+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #19 4 too high 24

Remove Cookies From Static Resources 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #17 7 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.