Question

Does anybody know some good websites where we can find the current trend for vim plugins?

Better to have the things that

1. have categories.
2. show how much they are downloaded and ranked.
3. indicate how often they are recently developed in such as github.

I know there is a good site as “The Ruby Toolbox” in Ruby gems, and I am looking for something like that and feel this is a good chance to get some links in this question page.

Answer 1

There is only one canonical plugin repository: http://www.vim.org. But you should be aware that the stats are totally meaningless for a bunch of systemic and moral reasons:

• Vim.org is not the only repository so downloads may happen anywhere (github, bitbucket, personal site, sourceforge…) and thus not be counted.

• A high download count can only be interpreted as a high download count. It doesn’t mean that the person who downloaded the plugin kept using it or… anything.

• One must be registered and logged-in to vote on plugins. The pool of voter is obviously smaller than the sum of Vim users or than the sum of the downloaders or than the sum of actual users.

• Voters are usually either super enthusiastic or super negative about the subject on which they vote. With most of the people with less marked opinions left outside of the vote, the result of rating/vote is never representative of anything worthwile.

• The apparent success or popularity of something is never an indication that that thing is the right choice for you. Downloading a plugin because it has a high download count or a high rating is absolutely not a guarantee that it will fit your workflow or solve your problem in a more satisfactory way than another plugin.

• The opinion of random internet strangers (like me) is generally not something valuable.

• And certainly others, but I’ll assume that you get my point.

The only sane way to choose a plugin (or a phone/car/anything) is to:

1. go through the READMEs of every alternative,
2. compare their pros/cons
3. install the most promising plugins
4. read their documentation
5. test the hell out of them
6. make your choice.