wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dummy 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 “dummy posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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
Dummy Text Generator shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ 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
Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #1 2 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419)
wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 
Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
WP Dummy Content Generator 5K+ · 4.6★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209)
wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 
FakerPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (205)
wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333)
wp.org #23 ↓5 14 too low 10 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 
WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (640)
wp.org #21 ↑2 10 too low 12 
Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13 
No Right Click Images 20K+ · 4.7★ (52)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 
Easy Populate Posts 200+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #7 7 too high 15 
Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51)
wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too low 16 
Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17 T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 
Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42)
wp.org #22 ↑2 4 too low 19 
Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Dummy Text Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #4 17 too high 22 
Custom Adobe Fonts (Typekit) 60K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 
Content Forge – AI & non-AI content generator, scheduled AI posts, dummy data for your site 60+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24 
Themebeez Toolkit 8K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑1 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.