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

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 “speedup”, we and wp.org disagree 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

YMM Product Filter for Woo – Year Make Model search shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Social Feed Gallery places #3 on merit, 4.5★ from 303 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 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 WP SpeedUp 200+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #1 ↑2 1 too high 3 Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #15 ↑1 12 too low 4 ImageRecycle pdf & image compression 1K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Defer Transactional Emails for WooCommerce | Speed up the WooCommerce checkout 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 Ecwid by Lightspeed Ecommerce Shopping Cart 20K+ · 4.5★ (228) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 SQLite Object Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Optimazz – Website Optimization and Speedup 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 6 too high 11 Tumblr Importer 10K+ · 4.0★ (48) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Cryptocurrency Product for WooCommerce 20+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Z zipaddr-jp 50K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Happy FAQs – FAQ, Product FAQ & Help Center 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Qwizcards | online quizzes and flashcards 100+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 Codevyne SEO Meta Keywords 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 10 too high 17 Accessibility Tool Kit: WP Accessibility checker plugin for WCAG, Section 508, ADA, EAA Compliance 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 Email OTP Authenticator – Login, Register & 2FA 100+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Diverse Solutions IDX Real Estate Listings & MLS Search 1K+ · 3.2★ (66) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Convert AVIF, WebP & optimize images – Pixy Image Optimizer 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 WPTurbo -WordPress性能优化插件 800+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓2 13 too high 22 YMM Product Filter for Woo – Year Make Model search 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑3 17 too high 23 Genesis Taxonomy Images 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑2 4 too high 24 Pagemeter 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.