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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content planner”

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 planner”, 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

Stachethemes Seat Planner Lite shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PublishPress Blocks – Block Controls, Block Visibility, Block Permissions places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 204 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 PublishPress Planner – Editorial Calendar, Marketing Content, Kanban Board 6K+ · 4.9★ (178) wp.org #2 3 Simple Event Planner 1K+ · 4.3★ (23) wp.org #3 4 PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 AAA Autoload Optimizer 9K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #18 ↑1 10 too low 9 AI Content Wizard Lite — SEO Content & Planner for OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek & Gemini 10+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 PublishPress Blocks – Block Controls, Block Visibility, Block Permissions 20K+ · 4.7★ (204) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 AutoWP – AI Content Writer & Rewriter 900+ · 3.8★ (15) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Stachethemes Seat Planner Lite 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 Comment Experience by Progress Planner 500+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Slickplan Importer 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 RightBlogger – AI SEO Agent & Autoblogging 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 RP 4U (Maps & Route Planner) 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.