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

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 “lazyloading”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Lazyload for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #3 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 572 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 A faster website! (aka defer.js) 200+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Cloudimage 200+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Photo Gallery – GT3 Image Gallery & Gutenberg Block Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (147) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 WP Meteor Website Speed Optimization Addon 20K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Full Screen Background 2K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #13 14 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization 9K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (151) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 JCH Optimize 4K+ · 4.4★ (69) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Compress, Resize & Lazy Load Images – WPvivid Image Optimization 10K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Optimize More! – Images 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Lazyload for Contact Form 7 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 19 too high 23 peLightbox Gallery Slider – Responsive Lightbox, Slideshow, Carousel, Image & Video Gallery 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 ska-blocks – TailwindCSS for Block Editor 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.