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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “career posts”

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 “career posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Rixden Career Manager shows at wp.org #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 248 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 HireZoot – Job Listings, Career Page & Recruitment Tool 30K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Job Manager & Career – Manage job board listings, and recruitments 1K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 JobWP – Job Board Plugin for WordPress | Job Listings, Career Page & Applications 1K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #9 10 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Rixden Career Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Wbcom Designs – Shortcodes & Elementor Widgets For BuddyPress 600+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 Timeline Module for Divi 3K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Timeline – Tell Your Story Through Events and Milestones 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Wheel of Life: Coaching and Assessment Tool for Life Coach 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Divine Astro 100+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Post Auto Vertical Scrolling 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Logo Showcase with Logo Carousel, Logo Slider & Logo Grid 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 JobPress – Your Company Job Board & Career Page 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Wbcom Designs – BuddyPress Post from Anywhere 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 HM Resume Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.