wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “child 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 “child posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

WPS Child Theme Generator shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 6K+ 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

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 217 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 signals wp.org

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 1 too high 3

CC Child Pages 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #4 5

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6

Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #12 5 too low 8

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 5 too low 9

MainWP Child Reports 100K+ · 4.3★ (6) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #2 7 too high 10

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12

Child Theme Check 700+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #7 5 too high 13

Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14

Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15

Wicked Folders – Folder Organizer for Pages, Posts, and Custom Post Types 20K+ · 4.9★ (56) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16

CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #20 4 too low 17

Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #14 3 too high 18

Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28) wp.org #16 2 too high 19

Weaver Show Posts 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #15 4 too high 20

WPS Child Theme Generator 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #5 15 too high 21

List Child Pages Shortcode 600+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

APM Child 40+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

Child Pages Card 80+ · 4.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.