wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “exclude post”
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 post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20. 3 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 #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 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 #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Search Exclude 50K+ · 4.8★ (218)
wp.org #1 2 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237)
wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 
Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 
Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↑5 1 too high 10 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #22 12 too low 11 
Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #21 ↓11 10 too low 12 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too low 13 
Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #13 ↓4 1 too high 15 
Post Grid Addon for Elementor 10K+ · 4.9★ (76)
wp.org #15 ↓3 16 
Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163)
wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 
AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94)
wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 
Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556)
wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #10 10 too high 21 
Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 
JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Exclude Category from Blog 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #11 12 too high 24 
Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.