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

Controlled Draft Publisher shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #1 2

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #5 ↓1 6

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11

Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14

Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too low 16

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #24 7 too low 18

Posts Table with Search & Sort 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑7 3 too high 19

User Posts Limit 3K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #17 2 too high 20

Controlled Draft Publisher 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓2 16 too high 21

Bulk Images to Posts 1K+ · 4.8★ (18) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22

Hide Drafts in Menus 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23

Share a Draft 3K+ · 3.7★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓4 7 too high 24

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews 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.