wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “exclude category 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 “exclude category posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 plugins are 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

Exclude Category from Blog shows at wp.org #3 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #1 2

Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #2 3

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too low 4

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6

Ultimate Category Excluder 50K+ · 4.3★ (78) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #12 5 too low 8

Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓1 4 too high 9

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10

Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11

Product Category Slider & Grid for WooCommerce – Reno Product Category 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12

Exclude Category from Blog 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #3 9 too high 13

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #20 6 too low 15

Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint wp.org #19 4 too low 16

Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #18 ↓5 2 too low 17

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #22 5 too low 18

Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #15 4 too high 20

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #14 6 too high 21

Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #24 3 too low 22

List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23

Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 P PE Category Filter 200+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 1 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.