Plugin Pulse Beta
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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “auto publishing”

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 publishing”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

auto-post.io shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (640) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Twitter Auto Publish 3K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #3 4 Social Media Auto Publish 5K+ · 4.7★ (345) wp.org #4 5 WP to LinkedIn Auto Publish 900+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 12 too low 9 Auto Alt Text 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #16 ↓3 6 too low 11 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Post to Google My Business (Google Business Profile) 10K+ · 4.9★ (159) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Auto Delete Post – Ultimate plugin for deleting a post automatically 300+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↑2 7 too high 16 Auto Publish for Google My Business 9K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Easy Post Submission – Frontend Posting, Guest Publishing & Submit Content for WordPress 4K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #10 ↓3 7 too high 18 AF Companion – Starter Sites, Speed Booster & Growth Suite for Professional Publishing 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Automatic Translator with Google Translate 2K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 AI Auto Post & Image Generator 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Auto Ping Booster 900+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 Auto Tag Creator – Automatic Tags for Posts and WooCommerce Products 1K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 auto-post.io 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 Auto podcast import 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 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.