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

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 “remove emojis”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Emoji Toolbar shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1564 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #1 2 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #2 3 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #3 4 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 WPS Bidouille 9K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Plugins List 700+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Emoji Settings 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Instant Emoji Reactions 100+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Emoji Toolbar 2K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 14 too high 21 Remove WP Emojis — Correctly 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 FlyWP Helper – Page Cache, Page Optimization, Emails for FlyWP Server Control Panel 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 T TGG – WP Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Remove layout destroying HTML-Tags 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 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.