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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “loaded styles”

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 “loaded styles”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 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

Optimize Scripts & Styles shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 50+ 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

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Style Kits for Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Assets manager, dequeue scripts, dequeue styles for WordPress 2K+ · 4.3★ (53) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #9 ↓6 1 too high 11 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #17 ↑2 18 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 Optimize Scripts & Styles 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 Business Card Block – present your team and contact info in style 1K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 Image Prioritizer 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.