wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content display”
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 “content display”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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
VK Post Author Display shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 270 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #2 3 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #3 4 
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too low 8 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #11 ↑5 3 too low 9 
Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) not PHP-current
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 
Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 
Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221)
wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 
Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 
Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) not PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15 W WP Display Header 7K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #10 5 too high 16 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #9 7 too high 17 
Timed Content 5K+ · 4.6★ (41)
wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 
Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 1 too high 19 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 
Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 
Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 D Display HTML Sitemap 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 
MAS Static Content 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.