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

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 schedule”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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 Update Post Date shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ 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

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 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 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #1 2 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #2 ↑1 2 too high 5 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Companion Auto Update 40K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #7 8 Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #16 ↑4 6 too low 11 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 W WP Auto Updater 7K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Auto Delete Post – Ultimate plugin for deleting a post automatically 300+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Hootsuite 200+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #19 20 AI Auto Post & Image Generator 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 auto-post.io 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 Auto podcast import 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Auto Post Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24

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.