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

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 “yslow”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 17. 6 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

WP Simple Thimble shows at wp.org #8 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.4★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #2 2 too high 5 S Social Photo Fetcher 1K+ · 3.7★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 W WP Resized Image Quality 800+ · 4.4★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 9 too low 7

JavaScript to Footer 500+ · 2.9★ (16) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 10 too low 8

LMS-Advisor AI Powered Cache — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9

Mos Speed up 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #5 4 too high 10

Query Strings Remover — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #10 ↑1 11 R Remove Query Arg from Media URLs ?_=1 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑1 12 S Static Resource Cleanup by Removing Query Strings 10+ · 5.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13

WP Simple Thimble 10+ · 2.4★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprintclosure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 A AAC Scoring 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15

STM WooCommerce Gallery 1.9 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16

Next Page Caching 10+ · 5.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑1 17

Speed Booster By Melotheme 10+ · 1.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑1 3 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.