Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cross posting”

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 “cross posting”, 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

ATmosphere shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 300+ 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

PowerPack Addons for Elementor (Free Widgets, Extensions and Templates) places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 361 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 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #1 2 Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 50K+ · 4.5★ (2104) wp.org #2 3 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #3 4 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1532) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 4K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #5 6 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (124) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 PowerPack Addons for Elementor (Free Widgets, Extensions and Templates) 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #19 12 too low 8 Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139) wp.org #12 ↑4 4 too low 9 Asgaros Forum 10K+ · 4.8★ (208) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 EazyDocs – AI Powered Knowledge Base, Wiki, Documentation & FAQ Builder 2K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Guest posting / Frontend Posting / Front Editor – WP Front User Submit 100+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 CM Tooltip Glossary 7K+ · 4.3★ (157) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (96) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Hootsuite 200+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 TG-InstantView 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Photo Reviews for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Podlove Podcast Publisher 3K+ · 4.4★ (44) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 ATmosphere 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Social Post Flow 200+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Basic Security: Prevent Cross Site Scripting 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 MassPost – Post, Share, Send to Several Websites 20+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Viraly – Blog to Social Media Auto Post, Scheduler & Analytics 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Webixso – WordPress Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.