wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “featured 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 “featured posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

WP Featured Posts shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 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 #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

1 N NS Featured Posts 4K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #2 ↓1 3

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6

Default Featured Image 50K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #6 ↓1 7

Quick Featured Images 50K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #9 ↑8 10

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #19 ↑5 9 too low 11

Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #11 ↑4 12

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #21 ↓8 9 too low 13

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #20 7 too low 14

Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17

Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19

Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too high 20

Add Featured Image Column 3K+ · 4.9★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21

LAPDI Featured Posts 70+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22

WP Featured Posts 300+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↑2 18 too high 23

Featured Image Column 2K+ · 4.5★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #23 24

Featured Image with URL 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.