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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “script loading”

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 “script loading”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 1K+ 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 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★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Header and Footer Scripts 200K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #19 ↑2 10 too low 10 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #14 ↑4 3 too low 12 Flying Scripts: Delay JavaScript to Improve Site Speed & Performance 30K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Header Footer Script Adder 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Assets manager, dequeue scripts, dequeue styles for WordPress 2K+ · 4.3★ (53) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 S Scripts To Footer 7K+ · 4.7★ (37) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 19 too high 24 Simple Like Page – Fast & Privacy-Friendly Page Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (24) 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.