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

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 “minify header”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Sticky Header 2020 shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 339 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #1 2 Fast Velocity Minify 30K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #2 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 4 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Merge + Minify + Refresh 3K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Sticky Header 2020 600+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #7 ↑5 11 too high 19 Hyper Cache 7K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 AEH Speed Optimization: Browser Cache, Optimized Minify, Lazy Loading & Image Optimization 2K+ · 3.2★ (20) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 2 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.