wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “delay 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 “delay posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Missed Schedule Post Publisher shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 6K+ 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

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #5 ↓4 1 too low 5

Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6

Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9

Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #14 4 too low 11

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12

WP Telegram (Auto Post and Notifications) 30K+ · 5.0★ (426) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #24 ↓3 10 too low 15

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16

Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #20 3 too low 18

Pay For Post with WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (53) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19

Animate It! 20K+ · 4.9★ (127) wp.org #23 4 too low 20

Shortcode Redirect 10K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #16 4 too high 21

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22

SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base wp.org #18 4 too high 23

Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓2 12 too high 24 A Auto Prune Posts 1K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓2 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.