wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “external 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 “external posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

oEmbed External Video shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ 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

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 7322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 80K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #1 2

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #5 6

Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1238) wp.org #10 ↑6 4 too low 7

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #7 ↑1 8

No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #3 5 too high 9

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too low 12

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #19 ↑2 6 too low 14

WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #14 15

Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too low 16

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #21 ↓3 5 too low 17

Archivarix External Images Importer 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18

Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #18 ↓1 19

CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too low 20 E External Permalinks Redux 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21

Copy Move Posts 400+ · 4.8★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Smart Auto Upload Images – Import External Images 5K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 23

oEmbed External Video 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24

Leaving Notice Popup For External Links – nofollow, noopener & New Tab 200+ · 5.0★ (3) 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.