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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “webfont load”

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 “webfont load”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20.

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

Icons Font Loader – use web icons anywhere on your site, fast shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ 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

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 1488 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 Swap Google Fonts Display: Improve Font Rendering & Performance 10K+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 Font Awesome 400K+ · 3.6★ (61) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #7 8 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Machete 6K+ · 5.0★ (52) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Easy Image Gallery 4K+ · 4.6★ (41) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 Each domain a page 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 TK Google Fonts 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Safelayout Elegant Icons – WordPress icons 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Rocket Font – 한글 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 F12 Floating Menu, sticky menu for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 Mox Icons – Icon Pack for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Icons Font Loader – use web icons anywhere on your site, fast 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22 EventsCalendar.co Events Calendar 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Topper Pack 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 F Fusion Pay by tbi bank 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.