wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “double 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 “double posts”, we and wp.org disagree 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Double Youpï Refined Admin Dashboard – Admin Theme with Dark Mode & Media Folders shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 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 signals wp.org

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #2 ↑4 1 too low 2

List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3

Double Opt-In for Contact Form 7 – Secure, GDPR-Compliant Email Verification 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #1 2 too high 4

Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #6 ↑1 7

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #7 ↓2 8

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #15 4 too low 12

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #19 7 too low 13

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #17 ↓5 4 too low 14

Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #21 ↓6 7 too low 15

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too high 16

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #20 ↓7 3 too low 18

JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #14 4 too high 19

Double Youpï Refined Admin Dashboard – Admin Theme with Dark Mode & Media Folders 80+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #8 11 too high 20

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #16 5 too high 22

GS Posts Grid – Recent Posts, Category Posts, Post Filter, Slider & List 100+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23

Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓5 24

FilterFlow Posts 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.