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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “test varnish”

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 “test varnish”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

MSCache Varnish Purge shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 133 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Purge Varnish Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Fast Velocity Minify 30K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 WP Performance 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Fresh Forms for Gravity 3K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Adaptive Images for WordPress 3K+ · 4.7★ (56) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Fastcache by Host.it 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 P Preload Fullpage Cache 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 Unnotifier — disable admin notices individually 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Warmer – Cache Warmer and Cache Preload Crawler 70+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 MSCache Varnish Purge 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Country Block – Ultimate Geo-Blocker, IP Ban & Login Security 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #20 21 UltraCache – Cache and Speed Optimization 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Asta HTML Minifier 100+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 CAPI Suite: Meta Pixel, Pinterest & TikTok for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Purgify – Clear Cache, Transients & Database 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.