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

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 “resized”, 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 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

Embed Optimizer shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Media Focus Point 6K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Resize Image After Upload 80K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 A AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild 30K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #15 ↑2 8 too low 8 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #20 12 too low 9 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Zeno Font Resizer 5K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Delete Unscaled Images 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 File Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (202) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Smart Image Resize for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #18 ↑3 5 too low 14 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15 Canvas Image Resize 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Flying Images: Optimize and Lazy Load Images for Faster Page Speed 2K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #16 17 ShortPixel Adaptive Images – WebP, AVIF, CDN, Image Optimization 10K+ · 4.8★ (145) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 WPSSO Tune WP Image Editors 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Image Optimization For SEO 3K+ · 3.7★ (12) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 Featured Image with URL 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Sticky Notes for WP Dashboard 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 Image Optimizer – Compress Images and Convert to WebP or AVIF 1M+ · 1.7★ (81) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 13 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.