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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “auto draft”

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 “auto draft”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Controlled Draft Publisher shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #1 2 WP LinkedIn Auto Publish 8K+ · 4.8★ (106) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (640) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 WP Twitter Auto Publish 3K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #17 ↓1 10 too low 8 Social Media Auto Publish 5K+ · 4.7★ (345) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 WP to LinkedIn Auto Publish 900+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Duplicate and Auto Draft Cleaner 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↓1 13 too high 17 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18 Controlled Draft Publisher 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 14 too high 19 AI Auto Post & Image Generator 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Auto Focus Keyword for SEO 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 auto-post.io 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 14 too high 22 Auto Tag Creator – Automatic Tags for Posts and WooCommerce Products 1K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Auto Post Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Draft Order Control 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.