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

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 “categories posts ordering”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Latest Posts Block – Dynamic Posts Grid, Posts List, Posts Tile with Stunning Layouts for WordPress Blogs & Pages shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #1 2 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #3 4 Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #7 8 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Posts Table with Search & Sort 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #9 ↑3 3 too high 13 AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #21 ↑2 8 too low 14 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too high 16 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too high 17 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Orderable – Restaurant & Food Ordering System 5K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↓2 8 too high 20 CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Post Type Transfer 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 GS Posts Grid – Recent Posts, Category Posts, Post Filter, Slider & List 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 Latest Posts Block – Dynamic Posts Grid, Posts List, Posts Tile with Stunning Layouts for WordPress Blogs & Pages 6K+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑8 10 too high 24 WP Featured Posts 300+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓2 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.