wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “expire 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 “expire posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Auto Post Expire shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4228 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

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #1 2

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4

Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #7 8

301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9

Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #12 ↑11 2 too low 11

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #19 ↓4 8 too low 12

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #23 9 too low 15

User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too high 16

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #22 ↓5 6 too low 17

Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓4 3 too high 18

HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170) wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19

Multiple Post Passwords 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓7 1 too high 20

Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↓12 1 too low 21 A Auto Prune Posts 1K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓4 5 too high 22

Auto Post Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓2 14 too high 23

Endless Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #13 10 too high 24

Auto Post Expire 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓2 18 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.