Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “descending 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 “descending posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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

WP Sitemap Pages and Posts shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Store Locator places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 312 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #1 2 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Posts Table with Search & Sort 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #5 6 WP Blog Post Layouts 9K+ · 4.7★ (83) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #21 ↓1 14 too low 8 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #19 ↑5 11 too low 9 Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 P Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 3K+ · 4.5★ (50) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Post Carousel Divi 2K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #11 12 P Post Order By Category 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #13 14 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too high 16 Post Timeline 700+ · 4.2★ (21) wp.org #16 17 WP Ultimate Post Grid 4K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 Post Grid Master — Post Grids & AJAX Filters 1K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #18 19 Post Meta Data Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 WP Sitemap Pages and Posts 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 16 too high 21 Advanced Related Posts 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 TableKit – WordPress Table Builder for Data Tables, WooCommerce Product Tables & Post Tables 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Embedded Posts 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.